A Ghost of Tomorrow
by Proteus
Summary: Sent back in time because of an accident, Ranma joins a war that happened years before he was born to decide the fate of Japan only to find that the consequences are bigger than he thought. Now, he must clean up a mess he made without knowing what it is
1. Chapter 1

I Don't Own any of these characters ect, ect, bla bla bla****

A Ghost of Tomorrow 

Saga 1: A Time of Change

Chapter 1: Through a Glass Darkly

            Happosai crept through the Tendo household as only a three hundred year old master of both the martial and perverted arts could. It had been weeks since he had been here last and a lot of things had changed. His collection was gone, and he knew who to thank for that, his two idiot disciples were much too subservient to try anything unless they were sure they'd get away with it, Kasumi respected his privacy, Nabiki was just too grossed out to go in there, as was Akane, so that left the only other person in the household. His most disobedient student: Ranma Saotome.

            Well, he supposed what he had coming would justify as a punishment for the ingrate. Imagine, Happosai had done so much training for the boy, scarified so much so that Ranma would be the future heir to his school and he wouldn't even do one little favor for the old man. Was it so much to ask for the boy to become a girl and let him feel her up whenever he so desired? Well, that'd change tonight, he'd learn his lesson once and for all…and there was that added benefit too Happosai remembered.

            The three hundred year old pervert chuckled at all the fun he would have when Ranma woke up after pulling the object he had worked so hard to get out from his suit.

            Ranma had a rude awakening of something wet hitting his, correction her face before she quickly sat up to scowl at the tomboy for waking her up for stupid school. "Hey what was that for you stupid tom-" Ranma cut herself off when she looked up and noticed a few things. 

A) The room was pitch black and so was the night sky outside her window. 

B) Akane wasn't around. 

And C) There was something attached to her chest.

            "Oh Ranma-Chan I'm so happy so see you again," Happosai said as he nuzzled his shrunken old head in-between Ranma's breasts. "Let's never be apart again."

            "Stupid old freak," Ranma yelled before trying to punch the old pervert through the floor and beyond but ended up missing when he jumped free. "Get lost! It's too late in the night for me to deal with you right now. I'll kick you ass as soon as the sun comes up."

            "Oh But Ranma I have the perfect bra for you and I can't wait to see you try it on," Happosai replied while pulling said article of undergarment from his suit and waving it in the air.

            "GET REAL YOU STUPID-" unfortunately before Ranma could finish a very large and square shaped piece of wood impacted her head from behind and then she turned to look at what the stupid old panda's sign said. [Foolish boy! Quit whining like a girl and let me sleep!]

            Ranma just jumped up and pounded her Pop's head into the floorboard to grant his request. If the old panda knew what was good for him he would stay down. With that distraction out of the why he turned back to Happosai, who now had a bra in each hand. "Ok well then how about one of these," he said while holding them up.

            "Give it a rest already you stupid pervert," Ranma shouted before kicking the little martial artist like a football and into the ceiling. She would have continued with the beating but a light being turned on drew the boy turned girl's attention over to the doorway to see a tired but frowning Nabiki, a burning mad Akane, and a crying Soun Tendo.

            "Ranma we're tying to get some sleep here," Akane yelled.

            Nabiki winced at her loud sister's outburst then rubbed her temple before looking over the room. "Come on Saotome, can't this wait till morning? I've got class tomorrow. Besides, you and your friends do enough damage to the place during the day, just give it a rest for one night."

            "Son, don't oppose the master," Soun warned with a trembling voice. The old man then walked over to where the old freak was imbedding in the ceiling and pealed him off before hugging the old man. "Master, he meant nothing by it I'm sure. Watch, he'll apologize in a moment. Won't you son?" Soun demanded.

            "As if," Ranma replied before walking out the door to the room she hared with Genma. "I'm gonna go take a bath. I think the little freak drooled on me or something."

            As soon as she left the company of the others Ranma scowled deepened. Stupid old freak, he'd been gone for over three weeks, why the heck did he have to come back now? Well, at least her mom had left the day before. Ranma just knew Nodoka would have a fit if 'Ranko' reacted to the old pervert in that manner and then redouble her efforts to make Akane's backwards country cousin into a 'proper' lady.

            Waiting for the tub to fill Ranma sat down on the nearby stool and sighed as thoughts about her mother sipped into her mind again. Damn, Genma and that damn contract. Although, there was also the fact that Nodoka looked ready and willing to actually carry through with that contract, hell she even talked about it in her sleep. Not that Ranma could blame her, thanks to Genma and his stupid multiple engagements and Kami knows what else the honor of the Saotome name had been lowered to almost nothing. If Nodoka didn't hold them to that contract, then Ranma could just drop the 'almost' part and it really would be nothing.

            Maybe she should just go ahead and get it over with. It would solve everybody's problems. With Ranma gone the fiancée mess would be over and everybody's honor would still be intact. Not to mention the old panda would finally get what's coming to him.

            _Oh hell, whom am I kidding_? Ranma thought before sighing. There was no way that she could go through with something like that.

            It wasn't because of the death threat. No, quite frankly death didn't scare her at all. After risking life and limb against people like Herb, Ryuu Kaman, Ryoga, and a slew of other people, Ranma wasn't afraid of death one bit. After all, she followed bushido, a code that told Ranma to choose honor over life no matter what. No, it wasn't the death threat that was keeping her from running over to Nodoka's with a thermos and revealing her secret. It was Nodoka herself.

            Ranma remembered the first night she had stayed over at the Tendo house. She had been having a nightmare about Ranma. That he wasn't in fact manly and thus had to be killed. She even reached out to grab that katana and nearly sliced Ranma's head off in her sleep while wailing in aguish.

            No, Ranma couldn't stand to her mother like that for real. As it was, Nodoka had hope, and as long as she had hope that Ranma was a man among men, she was happy. Ranma had no intention of destroying that happiness, no matter the cost.

            Seeing that the tub was almost full she reached over to turn off the water before rinsing herself off then diving in to the warm water. Leaning her head back Ranma relaxed in the nice hot bathwater and waited for the change to over take her…and waited…and waited…and waited.

            Hearing and explosion coming from across the hall Akane slowly brought herself back up and frowned. Was Ranma at it again? For crying out loud it was the middle of the damn night!

            "HAPPOSAI YOU LITTLE FREAK, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM GOD FOR FUCKING SAKEN LIMB!" Yep, the idiot was at it again. Why couldn't he just give it a rest for one stupid night and let her get some sleep.

            "Ok that's it," Akane mumbled before getting up to put Ranma to sleep the old fashioned way.

            She got out of bed while holding onto P-Chan, who Ranma had also woken up with his indecent and insensitive shouting before opening her door and looking into the hallway. She didn't have to wait long for Ranma to show, another explosion of ki tore the bathroom door and most of the surrounding wall off its hinges and slammed what was left into the opposite side of the hallway. Ranma stormed out a second later leaving cracks in the floor and peeling the pain off the walls with the raging inferno that was her battle aura.

            "Ranma just what the heck do you think-"

            "OUT OF MY WAY!" Ranma shouted before grabbing Akane by the front of her pajamas. Unfortunately before Akane could pound the sex fiend in front of her for trying to cop a feel Ranma flung the girl aside, hard. As Akane impacted the wall and left and imprint she slid to the ground and lost her grip on P-Chan the little pig charged the enraged martial artist only to get stomped through the floor by Ranma without even turning around.

            Happosai sat in his room while twirling the magic ladle he had stolen from the Musk during his most recent trip to China. He could feel his disciple approaching, Soun's force demanding to know what was going on and shouting something along the lines of 'how dare you attack my daughter' with added demon head effect quickly faded as Ranma's aura flared and probably blew the old man through the opposite wall and a few blocks down the street, if not vaporizing him completely.

            Happosai had to admit, Ranma had gotten real good while the old man had been away.

            The old man's door then exploded in a bright red flash and the Happosai looked up to see Ranma standing in the doorway with a bright red flaming battle aura. Even from where he was Happosai could see that Ranma was emitting sakki, like a bonfire. 

            Yep, Soun was most definitely sporting third degree burns from that last attack, if he wasn't dead. Sakki was called the chi of death for a reason after all. Unlike the solid ki attacks like Ranma's trademark Mouko Takabisha that was basically compressed air that slammed into the opponent like a super strong punch, ki attacks powered by sakki were meant to kill, to destroy the opponent utterly. Ranma must have been real mad in order to produce something like that on just instinct.

            "I knew it," she hissed through clenched. "You little bastard. You had better of brought the kettle too or you're not going to live through this night."

            "Oh now Ranma-chan," Happosai said sweetly. "Don't worry, I've got just what you need to relax right here." The old pervert reached into his gi and pulled out the other object he had gone to China to pick up. Actually, originally it was the only thing he had gone to get, just something to help keep Ranma in line and show him who his master was. But after learning it only worked on women Happosai had to also borrow that wonderful dipper in Herb's possession. The bottle was a small vial filled with a magical pink powder that had formally belong to the Amazons. "Just one little drop of this stuff and you'll do whatever I say."

            Not waiting time the old pervert tossed the glass contained at Ranma. Even if she tried to grab it the aura that was surrounding her would shatter the thing like the piece of junk it was then Happosai would have his own personal battery that would last him for years to come.

            Ranma was furious. No…she didn't think that there was a word in the Japanese language that described the amount of unbridled rage she was feeling. Although, it wasn't like the anger she had felt when that pervert at the skating ring had kissed her, or even when Herb was disrespectful to Akane, this went far beyond anything like that, but at the same time…it wasn't that blind range that Akane seemed to always go into at the drop of a hat. Ranma could still think clearly…sort of, she was trying to hold the Soul of Ice, but at the same time keep a hold on her ki so she could fry that stupid pervert.

             Well, there was time to consider this later. Happosai had finally crossed the bridge that was Ranma's limit. No, he didn't just do that, he crossed the bridge, burned it, then peed in the river! And now it was time to pay the piper.

            That bastard, how dare he do this! Her mother, what was Nodoka going to say now? Ranma's one hope of ever seeing her mother again was somehow getting cured of his curse. But…if it was locked…Ranma was going to make sure that Happosai understood just how deep he was in it before she finally killed him. Or maybe she would just break off his arms and tear out his eyes so he couldn't see girls anymore and waste away into nothing.

            Hearing Happosai's words Ranma reached out to just catch the bottle and frowned as it shattered against her aura and let the powder inside continue on towards her. Reacting instinctively the pigtailed girl brought her arms up in front of her face to try and block it while holding her breath.

            Happosai mentally cheered as his plan came to fruition and the storm of dust settled over the red haired girl. Now he could grope his own personal Ranma-chan anytime he wanted, and if those idiots Soun and Genma had anything to say about it. Well Happosai wouldn't even have to lift a finger to deal with them, if Ranma could tap into that dark ki on command then he could use her to put those two ingrates in their place. 

            Maybe Happosai would make another trip to China to get more of the stuff and use it on Kasumi and Nabiki. Someone to do all the housework and another for the cooking would be nice. Not Akane though, her breasts were much too small for a good feel and anything she cooked would be deadly.

            "Now then let's see," Happosai said before reaching into his gi and pulling out a chain of bras. It was his personal collection that he always carried with him in case of dire emergences. He needed something special for his personal pet Ranma-chan.

            As he continued searching for the right bra and Ranma just held her hands up and twitched every now and then Happosai finally came to the end of the line and pulled out that magic mirror he had swiped from the Amazon's a couple hundred years ago and marked the end of his collection and helped weigh it down. Well, now that all his collection was out he started looking through the line, his Ranma-chan couldn't be seen in just anything.

            Ranma stood there for a moment, her surprise diluting her rage for a moment and thus her aura cut out. Shouldn't she be…well doing something? The way Happosai had explained it before it sounded like he was using some type of love potion. But being a somewhat expert in love potions after all that had happened to her in the past since coming to Nerima, Ranma knew that something must have gone wrong.

            When she looked back down to pound the pervert he seemed completely caught up in looking at his collection that he had sorted out in front of him. However before she started to charge a ki blast that would rid the world of the pest once and for all Ranma noticed something laying on the ground next to the freak. It was a small hand mirror with a red frame and two broken pieces being kept inside by tape. A magic mirror that could take her anywhere in the past with just a simple tear. A magic mirror that could take here  to where the counter magic item for Herb's ladle was before it had been lost!

            "GIVE ME THAT MIRROR YOU LITTLE FREAK," Ranma shouted before her aura roared to life around her once again and she lunged at the old man at full force hoping to snap him in two while getting the transport to her salvation. It looked like this plan was about to fizzle along with every other trick the dirty pervert had played. Only this time Ranma was definitely playing for keeps.

            Happosai looked up surprised when Ranma came to life once more and lunged at him, still being driven by her kill ki. The old man quickly looked over to his stolen Amazon artifact and snatched it up before jumping up and out of Ranma's way to avoid being gutted.

            What in the world could have gone wrong? He had used it the potion perfectly. He had even tested the powder out on a cute little high school girl before coming back. Nothing really special compared to Ranma, just and ordinary girl. After everything that Happosai made the child say, do, and let him do to her, he knew that it worked one hundred percent. She had been so in thrilled by Happosai that she begged him do command her with tears in her eyes and was probably going insane without him, if she hadn't committed suicide by now that is. So what the heck had gone wrong?

            As Ranma twisted in the air to land back on the floor and the ground seemed to burn beneath her feet before her battle aura readjusted itself. So, that's what must have happened. Ranma's aura simply destroyed the stuff before she could breath it in. Well this was a fine mess! Here Happosai had been looking forward to having Ranma cuddle and hold the old man next to her so he could enjoy the last years of his life and she went and ruined it.

            Well, he'd just have to show her who the master was the old fashioned way then…of course to do that he really should have been paying attention to the fight. During Happosai's little mental train ride to figure out what when wrong Ranma had already launched herself into the air after him and slammed her fist into the old man's gut and knocking them both through the roof.

            As Ranma's hand connected Happosai wanted to cry out in pain. He hadn't felt an assassin's aura in a very long time; he had forgotten just how much it hurt from just touching the thing. Happosai felt as if someone had taken a red-hot poker and just shoved it into his abdomen with the force of a freight train.

            Now both of them high in the night air, Happosai tried to fight through the pain of Ranma's first attack but it didn't last as the girl twisted around and slammed her knee onto his back before reaching around to grab the old man's neck and Ranma's aura slowly spread around him to start to fry every fiber of his being.

            Even covered by the pain completely now Happosai tried to think of a way of his present situation before Ranma burned through his skin and put a hole in his windpipe. Talking was useless, someone who had their mind set in a big enough killing rage to use sakki couldn't be just called down with words; least of all by the target of their rage. His redirection with a pipe was out, Ranma's aura had already set the old man's clothes on fire and the heat from her aura was melting the thing to slag.

            Ranma then started to squeeze on the old man throat thus increasing the progress of her aura about ten fold. In his last moments Happosai tried to say something but nothing would come. He could only coke out a tear. Man, this night sucked, he really wished that he was anywhere but here.

            Ranma felt the old freak's neck snap as they fell down and landed on the roof with a thud. Now with Happosai out of the way she tossed his corpse aside to get to the mirror under it…only to find the thing in pieces…and starting to glow. Ranma could only stare in utter defeat at her last chance for a way to get ride of this curse lay there broken. That is until she noticed the small tears smeared all over al of the shards and the bright glow that enveloped her a second later before she could even voice her distress.

            Katsura walked down the unpaved street without his accompaniment of his usual bodyguards. He didn't really need protection of course, his swordsmanship was fair enough to defend himself form the local purse snatchers and other would be thieves that might try to take advantage of him. That, and he wanted to enjoy one last walk in the streets, not having to look over his shoulder every once in awhile for an assassin.

            Looking back up at the Kyoto skyline he took in the view of the stars over the roofs, and the majestic tower in the distance. How long would it stay like this? Tomorrow he would be starting Japan on a new path, it would be a bloody one, full of death, war, and suffering, but at the end of that path would be a new era; an era of equality and choices for the people.

            He shook hi head and kept walking. No, the city wouldn't be destroyed by tomorrow night, but eventually the streets would run red with blood and the stars would be blacked out by smoke from the fires. But he didn't want to think of that right now, tonight he just needed to have one last peaceful night to relax.

            Katsura suddenly felt something crash into him from behind and sent him and whoever hand run into him falling to the ground. The man was about to throw whatever was on top of him off when the nobleman found himself being lifted upright from behind.

            He turned around and looked at the small redheaded girl that had crashed. She looked a little worse for where, her silk shirt and pants looking as if they had seen better days, while her hair was a mess and her eyes a little downcast. "I'm so sorry sir," she quickly apologized with a light bow. "I really should have been watching where I was going. Now, I really gotta be on my way. Sorry!"

            She then took off again down the street and turned into a corner causing Katsura to blink in confusion. That had certainly been a little strange. Well, it really wasn't the time to be wondering about street urchins and the like. But he had to admit that he felt a little sorry for the girl. Once the Kihei-Tai was put into action and Kyoto became a war zone, people like her would be caught in the middle.

            "I really should stop doing that," Katsura told himself while trying to move his attention away from the thought of the young girl. Maybe he should go get something to drink. There were probably a few good places to buy sake in this part of town. Reaching down into his robes Katsura reached for his money purse and…came up with nothing.

            A quick image of the redhead running into him from behind quickly flashed through his mind. That little brat had just stolen his money! "Hey, come back here you little thief," Katsura shouted before running the direction that he saw the pickpocket go not two seconds before.

            Ranma sighed as she sat on the rooftop of some unknown building, tossing the purse back and forth in her hands. Fifty eight yen, back when she came from it wouldn't even be considered decent pocket change, but here it was worth enough to keep her fed for awhile. She had no intention of keeping all of it of course, when the guy she robbed came chasing after her she'd just drop down next to him after he wore himself out and give most to the money back, only keeping enough for a meal.

            So the perma-girl, at least until she could track down that kettle, lay back on the roof and watched the stars while she heard the man's voice calling for her to come back and calling her a thief.

            It had been three weeks since she had arrived in this backwater time period and Ranma was currently quite depressed. Once arriving and finding that the mirror had been pretty much smashed to dust she went over Ranma went over her options to return to her own time. But first thing was first, she headed off towards where she had Herb had battled when they were both frozen as women only to find one little problem, the kaisufuu wasn't there. The damn thing must have been moved into that location in the next hundred years or so.

            Now, Ranma was just trying to think of what else to do. Going to China to track down Happosai and take the mirror from this time was a plausible idea. No way the freak could match her right now, she had killed him when he was three hundred, and she could easily do it when he's younger.

            It was kind of strange remembering ripping out Happosai's throat. Ranma didn't really feel much regret for it anymore; she did at first, but not anymore. After what the old freak planned to do to her he deserved to die…too bad his life was ended so fast.

            Feeling a couple heightened battle aura's nearby Ranma sat up and cursed herself, she really should have been paying attention to where her last victim was, not reminiscing about the past. What if she had taken all that guy's savings for the week or something? He could have a family to feed for all Ranma knew.

            Sitting up the busty redhead made her way across the rooftops of the city, looking around for any signs of the guy. Maybe she should start trying to find out her victim's names or something, it would make things like this a whole lot easier. While looking around Ranma slowly headed towards where she could feel the fighting going on, if someone was in trouble she figured she had better bail them out.

            Katsura growled in frustration as he held his katana with his left hand, his right arm had been injured when he had been attacked in the alleyway by surprise. _Stupid_, he reprimanded himself while clutching his katana as best he could. He wondered is the kami were laughing at him right now. It wasn't supposed to be this way, tomorrow the revolution that he had been planning on for years would finally begin, and he was going to die in an alley.

            What even made it worse was that instead of an assassin paid by his rivals or in battle by samurai of the shogun. No, what would be killing him was just a gang of three pickpockets and murders. Lowly jackals that fed off people in the dark alleys of this city.

            He sidestepped the first attackers strike and then brought his sword up to block the second man's attack. The third thief, the one who had injured his arm with a throwing knife came up from behind with a short sword and prepare to skewer him. Katsura could only curse his luck and prepared to die, if he stopped blocking the second attacker then he would be run through by him…in short there was nothing he could do.

            However his death was preempted as a red blue slammed into the third murderer from the side and sent him flying into the wall on the other side of the alleyway. All three men remaining conscious could only stare at the short redheaded girl in surprise that had brought down someone three times her size with one blow. _Her,_ Katsura thought. _That's the same girl that picket my pocket awhile ago._

            Recovering from his second of shock faster than his two attackers Katsura quickly sifted his balance to spin around and slam the dull side of his blade into the side of the second attacker's neck and knock him to the ground right before the girl practically flew past him and struck the last man standing in the stomach. The murdered reached forward in pain then flew back a good five feet before hitting the ground and rolling another three. He didn't stand back up.

            "Well now, guess this just wasn't your night to be going out alone," the girl said before turning around to face Katsura. The man that Katsura had knocked to the ground started to get up but the girl quickly kicked him in the gut and sent the guy flying into the wall that in turn knocked him out.

            "Who are you," Katsura demanded while clutching his sword yet not moving the weapon from it's lowered position. "Why are you following me?"

            The girl just shrugged then reached into her pants to pull out a money purse. "I…I'm nobody really, just a wanderer," she said before reaching into her other pocket and pulling out some yen coins. "As for why I'm here, I just heard the sound of fighting and decided to see what was going on. Here." she tossed him the money pouch. "I only steal what I need to get by for a night, I planned on just taking a few yen and running into you later, but I figure these guys should have enough on them to last me a few days. If I'm lucky I'll be able to stay at an inn, it's been awhile since I did that."

            After looking through one and finding nothing she sighed and took his sword then looked back over towards Katsura. "By the way, you should probably get that wound looked at. It might get infected if you just ignore it for too long."

            Katsura could only watch as the girl's expression saddened before she walked over to check the pockets of the would be thieves. He didn't know how much of the girl's story was true, but his heart did go out to the poor girl. It was clear that she had been living on the road for awhile, her current state told him that much.

            The nobleman nodded then turned to walk away but something stopped him. Well, he had to admit he did owe the young woman, if it wasn't for her he would be dead right now. Even if it was trying to follow her that nearly got him killed in the first place. No, that wasn't her fault, she could have just kept going on and not given a second though to Katsura himself but she risked her life to save his own. "Listen," he told the girl causing her to look up from the last thug. "I owe you for saving my life tonight, if you're needing a place to stay for a few days you can come to my home. That's the least I can offer you for you actions tonight."

            The girl looked at him for a moment then frowned. "Ok, but don't even think of trying anything," she said sternly. "Or the cracked skulls I gave these idiots will be nothing compared to what you'll be getting. Got it?"

            Katsura simply nodded, the poor girl, she was quite attractive, and being a ronin probably made her run into all kinds of trouble. However from what he had just seen a few moments ago, as unbelievable as it was, he doubted that anyone had yet to actually succeed in taking advantage of her physically. "Understood," he replied. "By the way, my name is Katsura Kogoro. May I ask yours now?"

            "I told you before, I'm just a wanderer, I have no name," the girl replied with her empty voice. However Katsura would have been blind to miss the sadness on her face. "Call me whatever you want, it doesn't really matter anyway."

            The nobleman merely nodded as he and his companion walked off into the night. 


	2. Chapter 2

See 1st Chapter for disclaimer

Chapter 2: Dealing With The Devil

            It was the middle of the night as the boy stood waiting in the shadows. He had heard his target would be passing by here tonight, and so he waited. It didn't take very long. There were three of them, the old balding man that was his target, and two bodyguards; one someone not much older than him, and an older one.

            "You're a lucky man to be getting such a beautiful wife," his target said.

            "Yes," the younger bodyguard replied. "But I must admit I feel a bit guilty about all this. Having such happiness while so many people are miserable."

            "Oh that's nonsense," the older man replied. "Just because other people are in distress shouldn't stop others from being happy no should it?"

            The assassin waited until they passed then finally stepped into view from out of the shadows with his hand in a position to grab his sword. "You are Jubei Shigekura of the Kyoto Shoshidai, are you not?" he asked casing all of them to slowly turned around.

            "I have come to deliver the judgment of Heaven for all of your tyranny," he said before readjusting his stance.

            The two bodyguards shouted a warning to him and then attacked. The older bodyguard was the first to come, a stupid mistake. The boy blocked the man's first strike without even bothering to draw his sword and then shoved the sheath into his eye, as the old bodyguard stumbled back the boy attacked with a Battoujitsu strike…cutting the man completely in two.

            With the first guard out of the way the assassin quickly moved forward towards his other two opponents. The younger bodyguard tried to defend Jubei but the old man shoved him out of the way in order to protect the boy, another stupid mistake. In that one instant the assassin was next to the old man, and drove his katana up through Jubei's jaw and into his brain, then cut his face in half.

            The last bodyguard shouted out his master's name causing the assassin to turn towards him. He really didn't need to kill this one, his target had been eliminated. However, there was also the fact that this young man had seen his face, he could not roam free. With his mind made up a half second after Jubei died, the assassin attacked the remaining bodyguard.

            His first attack was blocked but the young man was pressed against the wall from the force of the blow. He ducked under the second strike that sliced through the wall and moved behind the assassin. When the assassin turned around the bodyguard held his sword up in a poor imitation of the Hiritzuke, an offensive thrust that was the trademark of the Shinsen Gumi, and attacked.

            Instead of a thrust the bodyguard turned his attack into a swing that was blocked, as was his second strike. The assassin then swung his sword low and sliced the bodyguard across his midsection, attempting to spill the man's guts on the street and then finished with a diagonal cut up the man's shoulder causing him to stumble back and lean on his sword like a walking stick. However, he did not die.

            The bodyguard brought his sword up again and charged the assassin in another thrust, this time the assassin also advanced and struck the bodyguards chest, cutting his heart in two with a diagonal strike. While this time he did hear the bodyguard cry out in pain, he also felt blood erupt from a slash across his left cheek.

            The assassin fingered the would for a moment in surprise, he had actually been wounded. What was even more surprising was that the bodyguard still wasn't head, he was down on the ground moaning in pain, unable to stand, but still quite alive. The assassin simply walked over to the young man and drove his sword through the bodyguard's throat…this time he didn't get up.

            A few moments later he could hear the sound of footfalls coming down the street, Iizuka and some others to check and see if he had done his job correctly no doubt. Sure enough a few seconds later he and two other assassins came around the corner and started checking the bodies.

            The leader of the group moved up next to the assassin himself. "Your face, are you hurt?"

            "It's just a scratch," the assassin replied before bending down to get a clean piece of cloth to wipe his sword with.

            "So, this slip of a bodyguard drew _your_ blood?" the other man asked. "He was more skilled than he looked."

            "Not skilled," the redhead told him while sheathing his now cleaned katana. "Just stubborn. Iizuka, clean this mess up, I need to go wash. Tell Katsura I'll see him in the morning." 

            With his job done, Kenshin Himura then turned down the street and started to walk away from the people he had murdered, just because he was doing this for the good of the nation didn't mean he had to like it. He also needed to clean that wound, with as deep as it was it would probably leave a scar.

            As the light crept through the window the sleeping redhead slowly opened her eyes and sat up to stretch her arms. The hair that had once been tied in a pigtail now hung loosely down her the back of her neck. She blinked a few times and wiped her eyes to clear the sleepiness away. She took one look at the blue kimono with the flower design on the other side of the room that Katsura had given her to replace the Chinese clothes and then collapsed back onto the mattress.

            What the hell was she still doing here? Three weeks, it had been three weeks since Katsura had given her a night to stay, after that the man had offered Ranma a room and meals for as long as she needed them. But she had other things to do, she needed to track down Happosai, to go to China and find the Musk village, if anyone had any clues about where the Kaisufuu was, it was they.

            The only problem was he had no idea whether the freak was in Japan or China, where the Musk village actually was, or if they even had the damn kettle, and no real way to get to China, not to mention the lack of supplies. Ok, so maybe she had more than one problem at the moment.

            As she lay there deep in thought Ranma suddenly heard the door open and a woman with dark hair come in. "Sakura, get up and get dressed, Master Katsura wishes to see you. He's waiting for you in the garden. After he's done with you get ready for your shift."

            The redhead moaned in annoyance before raising her hand to wave the woman off. That was another reason she needed to get out of here. After taking up residence and telling Katsura she needed some way to get some petty cash he had arranged for Ranma, or Sakura as she called herself now, to work at a nearby inn that all of his employees stayed at.

            Sakura, why the hell did she have to choose such a stupid girlie name like that? She should have just stuck with Ranko, but that too had its problems. That name reminded Ranma too much of home, of her mother and what she had lost because of Happosai. So, when Katsura asked for her name during the second day of Ranma's stay, she had seen a cherry tree in his garden and decided to take the name of its petals.

            Stupid old man, him and his stupid training trip hadn't just ruined Ranma's body and life, it ruined her imagination too.

            Yawning, Ranma slowly got out of bed and walked over to her kimono, then started putting it on. Well, at least it wasn't pink or some other girlie color. Ranma would have really hated that. Taking one last second to enjoy being Ranma Saotome for the day, she tied her kimono on before flattening out her hair and stepped out into the hall as Sakura…damn, she really needed to think up a last name to go along with that.

            Walking down the hall she tried her best to ignore all the looks that the men she passed were giving her. It may not have been completely true in her time, but Akane may have been right now, all males of the species really were perverts. Well, everyone who worked for Katsura was anyway, in the time that she had been working at the inn for Katsura she had been hit on more times than she could count.

            Lost in thought, Sakura wandered downstairs and around to where the back door leading to the garden outside. She was so caught up in her still half-asleep state that she didn't notice the two men in front of her until it was too late and she walked right into them, or more specifically the short one with red hair, causing them both to stumble back.

            When she looked back up Sakura glared at the two guys who had just left Katsura's garden. She didn't know the name of the guy she'd ran into, from what she'd seen of him at the inn he just ate his meals in quiet and didn't talk much. All in all Sakura had to say she liked him the best out of all the guys in this place because he left her alone. His name was Ken-something, but that was pretty much all she knew about the guy, the scar across his cheek was new.

            The other man she did recognize, and was the main reason for her bad mood, and thus received most of her anger. Iizuka had a light mustache and his hair sported a ponytail he was probably the worst lecher of the whole lot. The only thing that kept Sakura from breaking him in two was the fact that he was apparently the boss of the lot and that would get her in trouble with Katsura. She owed that guy too much to go and make his best bodyguard useless, or whatever the hell Katsura's employees did, Sakura wasn't quite sure, she just served the drinks and didn't pay attention to the talk.

            "Excuse me," she said rather forcefully before pushing her way in-between the two men.

            "Hey now careful with that one Kenshin," Iizuka called out. "She's got quite a lot of spirit. Although…I bet she'd be an animal in bed with all that emotion she's got bottled up in her."

            Sakura resisted the urge to go kick the pervert's ass halfway across Kyoto and just walked into the garden before forcing the scowl to leave her face. She really needed to find a new job before she ended up putting that guy in a hospital or something.

            "You called for me Lord Kogoro?" Sakura asked after walking past the two and into the garden.

            Katsura whispered something to the man next to him, then sent him on his way leaving both Katsura and Sakura standing in the garden alone. A few moments later Katsura motioned for Sakura to come forward and then addressed her. "You know, I've been watching you when you come here in the mornings to practice. I must stay you are very good."

            Sakura frowned a bit at the man's statement. Every day a couple of minutes before sunrise or after dark when no one would bother her she would come to the garden to be alone and enjoy being Ranma, to dance in the martial arts that was his element. Of course she couldn't do it when other people were around, women who knew martial arts were practically non-existent in this era so she didn't want to draw attention. Then there was also the fact that because of her lack of good training clothes Ranma was half naked when she practiced, that was the other reason for her unusual timetable of training.

            "So you've been leering at me or something?" Sakura said with a frown before making a fist. "I thought you were married."

            Katsura looked surprised for a moment then let out a low chuckle. "My apologies, that came out wrong," he told her. "Actually, I have a favor to ask of you. I will be attending a meeting with certain associates on matters of a political nature. Because of certain…events recently we have agreed to bring only one guard for each of us."

            "So then you want me to be your bodyguard?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

            "In an unofficial manner," Katsura replied. "I wish to bring you as my…attendant. We will be having dinner during the meeting as well so you would simply serve as a waitress, and because of the nature of these talks we wish to keep what is said secret. If something does occur I will have two men there while everyone else only has one. It's up to you, however I can pay you quite handsomely."

            "Okay, but get me something to wear under this," Sakura said as she gestured to her kimono. "It'll be just an impediment if something really does happen." She paused for a moment; there was something else that she was forgetting. "Oh yes, could you also get something to keep me dry on the way over in case it rains?"

            "Very well," Katsura agreed. "I'll have a change of clothes and an umbrella sent to your room before we leave."

            Sakura turned to go, then stopped. _That's right they only have bamboo umbrellas right now_, she thought. A picture of Ryoga flashed in her mind and Sakura quickly drove it out. "No, just get me a cloak with a hood, that will do fine."

            "Are you sure?" Katsura asked. "With all that clothing you'll probably be very hot at this time of year."

            "Yes, have the change of clothes sent to my room," Sakura told him. "Now, if you'll excuse me I've got to go to work." She turned all the way around this time and left her benefactor standing alone while Sakura walked away. But deep within herself, Ranma Saotome cried a small tear for the loss of what once was.

            Later that night the meeting of the Imperialists came and went, leaving Katsura quite disgruntled. While his faction was doing all the work all of his supposed 'allies' stayed back, saying that this was not the time to act. During the meeting there was also rumors of the Mebu clan's soldiers stirring up trouble for them, and that was the problem. The fear of the Shinsen Gumi kept them all from acting.

            Cowards, all of them.

            Katsura looked back to his bodyguard Iwanbu, he was a big man, seven foot tall and brimming with muscle. Personally Katsura would have preferred that young boy Kenshin, but the redhead turned down the offer, and Iizuka's style centered around one on one battles, not fighting many opponents while in a closed space. So he chose Iwanbu for the intimidation factor and overall power. Besides, the girl was his real bodyguard; the big man was just there for looks.

            Sakura had been left at the house to assist the staff in cleaning up and would be meeting them at the Kogoro estate later. Katsura would have preferred having her accompany him back home but didn't want his associates to think that he was courting another girl when he already had someone. Besides, he was old enough to be Sakura's father; the girl couldn't have been older than fifteen by her looks.

            But that didn't stop him from using her the same as another certain redhead, did it?

            He was quickly brought out of his thoughts when Iwandu stopped in front of him in the middle of the street and looked around. "Hold up here for a moment sir."

            Katsura looked around then reached for his sword, only to find nothing there. He had forgotten that after accepting Kenshin into his army of assassins he had promised to give up his sword and work behind the scenes through his group instead of on the front lines.

            Well, there didn't seem to be any trouble anyway, a check of the area told him there was no one on the street or in the nearby alleyways. Just because Katsura was without a sword didn't mean he didn't have a brain. "No one is here," he told the man in front of him. "Now let's continue on."

            "Yes," Iwandu agreed as he turned around with his hand still on his sword. "That's exactly the point, no witnesses. And when I bring the head of a rebel faction leader to the shogunate I'm certain that I'll be rewarded quite generously." The lumbering man took a swing at Katsura forcing him back but missing completely.

            The nobleman cursed his luck before rolling to the side to prevent the downward slash from cutting him in two and dropped his umbrella in the process then stood back up to face his bodyguard turned traitor. "So then you're a spy for the Bakufu alliance I take it?"

            Iwanbu growled before pulling his sword out of the wall it had been driven into and turned to face Katsura. "Actually no, I'm just a hired assassin out for money," Iwanbu replied. "At first I decided to stick around with you guys thanks to the pay, but do you know the reward that the shogun is offering for key rebel leaders? I figure it's enough for me retire and sit back and do nothing for the next ten years at least."

            Katsura could only shake his head and laugh. Ah well, the man in front of him had been hired for his strength and size, not his brains. If Iwanbu actually thought that he would get any money for Katsura's death then he would find himself sorely mistaken. It wasn't much of a comfort, but not much was better than none.

            As Katsura let Iwanbu back the nobleman up against the wall a plan formed in his head. With the way Iwanbu always put all his strength into his, swings all Katsura would have to do is wait for the other man to attack, then dodge the stroke and get away. Simple enough considering that Iwanbu had no real running speed to speak of.

            The rouge assassin raised his sword upwards. Now it's time to-" Iwandbu didn't finish his shout before the sound of fist meeting flesh was heard in the air and he suddenly stopped dead. But strangely, there was nothing between the two men, however as Katsura looked be man over there was a definite impression of something…right in the space between his legs.

            The giant of a man stood there for a moment longer before the sword fell out of his hand and he collapsed to his knees and another unseen stoke backhanded the man's jaw causing it to dislodge while he fell sideways. Katsura could only stare at the sight with his mouth hanging open.

            "Geeze, how come they always go running their mouth when they think they're about to win," a girl's voice said from out of nowhere. A second later the space in front of Katsura shimmered and a hooded character stood in front of the nobleman with her hood up. He didn't have to wait before Sakura turned around and dropped the hood of her cloak to know who it was. "Hey, Mr. Kogoro, you okay?"

            Katsura could only gape at the girl in front of him who had appeared out of nowhere. What he had just seen, couldn't have been real…could it? It took several moments for the man to regain his speaking ability, by then Sakura was looking at the ground uneasily and shifting her feet. "Sa…Sakura, what happened just now? What are you doing here? What was that?"

            The girl looked up and blinked at him a few times. "Well uh, you see I know you wanted me to clean up afterwards and everything. But I don't exactly like doing all that kind of stuff. So I slipped out and decided to head home. I felt this guy's ki increase on the way there and decided to check it out," she said while thumbing towards the downed traitor.

            "Not that!" Katsura shouted before calming down and bringing his voice back to normal. "I'm talking about the invisibility!"

            "Oh, it's a technique of a school called the Umi-Sen-Ken, my father designed when he was younger," Sakura explained. "It hides the user's presence to such an extent that they can no longer be seen at all with the naked eye. It was developed for stealing, but he sealed it away for its other…obvious uses. I inherited it when a practitioner of the counter school of Yama-Sen-Ken came demanding the scroll that described the Umi's techniques."

            Other uses, yes Katsura could already see what she meant by that. To be able to move undetected by others, the possibilities boggled the mind: spying, stealing, and assassination. Each one could be carried out right under the targets nose and he would never even know what happened. "Yes," Katsura replied after shoving all the plans forming in his head to the side for the moment. "Well then, let's get this over with before someone shows up and head home. After you get cleaned up I would like to talk to you within my private quarters. This place is too out in the open."

            The girl merely nodded and turned around to walk away leaving Katsura to finish off Iwanbu himself with the traitor's own sword. After driving it through the man's heart he turned around and followed the short girl down the street.

            It was about eleven at night when Ranma made her way up the stairs in a small shirt that clung to her skin and short pants that stopped a few inches below the knee. It felt good to be out of that stupid kimono, stupid girlie thing; besides, every time she looked in the mirror it reminded her of Nodoka too much. Why the hell did Ranma's girl form have to look so much like her mother?

            She quickly wondered what Katsura wanted to talk to her about. If it was about teaching him the technique then he would be sorely disappointed. The only reason Ranma had the damn thing on because she didn't want to draw attention to herself for roof hopping across the city. That sort of thing wasn't exactly common here like in Nerima district.

            After walking down the hall a ways she found Katsura's room and opened it to find the man sitting alone on a mat with another in front of him and a table between the two. At his request Ranma shut the door behind her then walked over to the mat and sat down. "Okay, what's this all about?"

            The man nodded then looked into her eyes. "Sakura, at the meeting tonight you overheard the current affairs of this nation correct?"

            Ranma shook her head. "Not really," she told him truthfully. "You just brought me along to keep you safe and serve the drinks. I tuned most of what you guys said out. The stuff I did hear didn't make much sense. I don't understand politics too well."

            Katsura smiled at some unsaid joke before clearing his throat. "Yes, well then let me explain what's going on. As it is the current system of government is oppressing the people of Japan for it's own corrupt ideals. Me, and others like me are uniting against them in an attempt to overthrow the government and build a new Japan, a better Japan. However right now we are only consolidating our power while striking out against its leaders since we can not hope to meet them openly."

            "Get to the point," Ranma told him curtly.

            "Very well," Katsura agreed. "I want you to join me in my cause as an assassin. You're…unique abilities would be quite welcome and make you almost unstoppable. I am willing to compensate you greatly for your time and efforts."

            "In other words you want me to murder people for money," Ranma replied with a scowl.

            "No, your payment will be given to insure your services," Katsura told her. "What I want, what everyone in this country wants, is for you to use your skills to help us build a better nation. Yes, I do want you to kill, I won't deny that part of it but my reasons are different from what you believe."

            Ranma looked at the man for a moment longer before standing up. "Sorry, I'll be packing my bags and leaving you tonight. Goodbye Mr. Kogoro." She turned around and started to walk towards the door but Katsura's shouting gave her pause.

            "WAIT," he yelled. "There must be something that I can offer you to change your mind. The Tokugowa Shogunate is choking the life out of the people of this land. I know that murder is wrong but this is the only way to change the situation and bring down those who are in power. I am asking you to help me save the oppressed people, and right now becoming an assassin would save the lives of hundreds. Certainly it is better than fighting on the open field of battle and murdering innocent people who are forced to fight or be executed for treason!"

            "To fight or die is the choice each person has to make on their own," Ranma replied. "If they join and kill people then they are no longer innocents, they are murderers."

            Katsura sighed and nodded his head then looked back to Ranma. "Very well, you may go now if you wish. Although the offer to join with me will always remain open, if you decided to come back later want some other compensation, _any_ compensation, for your services you have but to ask."

            Ranma reached out then opened the door, but stopped halfway before looking back. She couldn't, could she? Just sitting around here was getting her nowhere, and although Ranma might have had the luck of the devil when it came to finding certain people, as all her encounters with Ryoga could attest to, she knew that it would be years before she could ever hope to find even a trace of the old bastard whom she owed so much payback. "Well, now that you mention it…there is something that I do require."

            "What is it?" Katsura asked.

            Ranma thought for a moment, could she actually do something like this? It was probably his only real good chance, but the cost…it went against everything she stood for. But, on the other hand if he succeeded… Ranma cut that train of thought then closed the door and looked back to the man. "If I do this for you I will require two other things, some information."

            "And that is?"

            "There is a village deep within the mountains of China," Ranma said. "I'm not sure of its exact location but I do know the general area, I want a map showing me where this village is along with instructions on how to get there."

            "And second?" Katsura asked.

            "There is a man named Happosai, I don't know his full name or anything other than he practices a style of martial arts called Anything Goes. Find me this man, and a village in China where a tribe of people called the Musk reside, and I'll do whatever you want."

            "I see," Katsura replied thoughtfully. "May I ask just why you are looking for these things?"

            Ranma shrugged, it made no difference to her. "The people living at the Musk village just have something I want. As for Happosai, well it's the same reason as the Musk, but there's also something else. He took everything from me, tried to ruin my life. For that, I plan on ending his."

            "Then it is agreed," Katsura said before bowing his head.

            Ranma declined the man's offer of sake in order to head to the baths, no one would be there this late and although she may have a girl's body she was still very much a guy inside. It was a little funny when her mind shifted back to the conversation. A mirror, and a large piece of brass; it was quite a bargain to sell one's soul for so little.

Next Time: The seeds of the revolution have begun to sprout and more blood is spilled in the streets. A new manslayer moves through the streets of Kyoto like a phantom in the night, killing her targets without warning. Meanwhile, a young boy assassin meets a beautiful woman during a rain of blood.

Ending Authors Notes: First off let me dispel any fears right away and say that NO this is not a Kenshin/Ranma match up. Nor will I be getting him together with any other guy. 


	3. Chapter 3

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

Chapter 3: Enter Tomoe

            Sheidu Izukowa sat in his office chair across from Lord Kadogowa. The meeting between them had been strenuous in length and discussion. The assassin had struck again last night, this time it had been members of the Shinsen Gumi, but what worried him Sheidu more was there was another assassination, this one had been a high official in the Shogunate. He had been killed in his quarters while under guard; and no one had even seen anything until the maid came in the next morning. At first they had just believed it was the same killer, but from the reports and approximate time of death both killings occurred within the same hour at least.

            "Well then guess I'll be taking my leave then," Kadogowa said before standing up and pulling his cloak close tom him.

            Sheidu stood up as well and bowed in response then said his farewells. After Kadogowa had left Sheidu walked over to the fire and poked it a few times to sir up the wood for more heat. It was unnaturally cold this night. Even standing next to the fire and with a coat he was freezing.

            He needed to send someone down and have the maids bring up some warm tea. Well, maybe that could wait till he got done signing some papers and headed off to bed.

            "You are Shiedu Izukowa, commander of the Kyoto defense army are you not?" a soft emotionless voice asked from behind him.

            The man nearly jumped out of his skin then turned around but there was nothing there. Or there was nothing there until it seemed as if the space in front of him seemed to fold open revealing the arm of a woman. It reached out and covered his mouth before Sheidu could cry out for his guards. Her hand was cold, as cold as ice.

            Then a second hand lashed out and stuck him in the chest, ripping through his ribs, removing the heart.

            As Shiedu dropped to the ground unable to draw in breath a woman in a cloak materialized out of thin air and dropped his heat on the ground while looking at him with cold blue eyes while frost came from out of her breath. She only took a moment to look at him before turning away and walking towards the window. Before the light faded from Shiedu's eyes he caught sight of the kanji character for death on her snow-white cloak before she faded from sight.

            Wrapped deeply in the Soul of Ice Ranma kicked open the window before covering her head with her cloak then ran across the roof before heading back across the rooftops of Kyoto towards the inn. She had forgotten just how long she had been doing this now, remembering faces and dates made it harder to block out the emotions that came when she killed. But she had to do this, she had to.

            The Phantom of Kyoto, that's what Katsura called her now. Well, he didn't call Ranma that in front of everyone else, to the rest of the Choshu faction she was just a simple waitress that the owner of the inn had taken a liking to. No one but Katsura knew her real purpose.

            Of course there were rumors. Some said that Ranma was Katsura's niece or some other family member he was giving shelter to because of the war, other's said that she was just some pretty young thing that he had decided to make his concubine; wrapped in the Soul of Ice Ranma didn't really let that one get to her. There was also the last rumor that some of the guys were talking about, that she and Kenshin were related because of the red hair. However that rumor was more of a joke, and a rare one after Kenshin displayed his displeasure about the comment. He seemed pretty touchy about his family.

            Kenshin Himura, Ranma remembered that name: Battousai the manslayer, the strongest swordsman the world had ever seen. Ranma had never been much of a history buff herself, but during the training trip she did learn about famous martial artists, Kenshin being one of them. And from what Ranma could tell, the redheaded teenager was well on the way of claiming that title.

            Quite frankly, Kenshin scared the hell out of Ranma. He had an aura that was like Ranma's Soul of Ice, only, as far as Ranma could tell…it was perfect. He had no emotion, no remorse, and no chill in the air as a side effect; with Kenshin's version of the Soul of Ice he seemed to radiate death and manslaughter at all times. While Ranma had to convince herself to kill each and every night for the restoration of her manhood and a way back home, Kenshin just killed.

            Kenshin stood in the alleyway, cleaning his sword of his target's blood. Tossing the now red rag away onto the dirt he put his blade back into its sheath then looked back up towards the Izukowa estate. He had felt…something coming from there a few moments ago. It was a strange ki that he had never encountered in his experience.

            The assassin shook his head then stepped over the body that was once Lord Kadogowa before the feel of something wet touched his skin. He looked up to the sky to see a clouded sky but no rain, then moved his hand up to his face to feel his cheek. The scar, it had broken open again.

            Why? Why was it doing this? With as quickly as Kenshin healed it should have recovered by now, but it continued to let the blood flow. Iizuka had said one night that it might have been the man Kenshin killed trying to get revenge from beyond the grave. It was utter nonsense, just an old wives tale.

            Well, at any rate Kenshin would need to get something to wash his face off again. Looking back down on the body he cut off a piece of the man's robes to be used as a towel until something better could be found. He took one last look at the body then headed down the street towards the inn that was doubling as Katsura's base of operations.

            Iizuka had met up with Kenshin again after the job was done of course. Personally Kenshin had never actually seen the man fight, only come around later after the jobs were done to check up on him. He had offered to buy Kenshin a drink but the assassin refused and sent Iizuka on his way. He had other things on his mind.

            On second thought perhaps he should go get something to drink. Sake didn't taste as good anymore for some reason but it was still better than water from the well.

            A few minutes later as Kenshin was walking down the street and neared one of his more favorite inns it started to rain making him frown in irritation. He really should have thought to take Kadogowa's umbrella while he was at it. Well, too late to be crying over spilt milk. The red-haired assassin was about to continue when his danger sense flared and he dodged out of the way just in time to avoid a sword that came from behind.

            As Kenshin turned around he saw a man that had stepped out of the alleyway from behind him. He was dressed in a black outfit and his face was covered by cloth. He wasn't Shinsen Gumi, just another hired assassin like Kenshin. The boy looked over to the ninja's weapons. He was using two swords, wakasashis that were chained together at the butt of the hilt. Probably a self taught style, nothing to really worry about.

            The ninja was the first to move. He threw one of his swords towards Kenshin, who in turn deflected it with a battoujitsu strike to knock the short swords blade into the ground. The ninja then charged and once within range Kenshin struck out. The ninja dodged the attack by diving to the side and then using the chain that connected his two blades to entangle the redheaded swordsman before landing on the roof.

            With Kenshin's tied up his arms were pinned to the side, his sword arm was almost completely immobile but his left hand could still be used, it was free from the elbow down. The ninja then jumped off the roof and made his attack, a downward slash that added his weight for power. Reaching back Kenshin pulled the man's other wakasashi out of the ground with his left hand and brought his arm up to deflect the blow. The ninja's attack slipped but Kenshin's continued on, cutting the man in half from the neck down while the momentum from the ninja's jump carried him over Kenshin's head.

            Panting Kenshin collapsed to the ground, absently noting that his scar had opened again. But there was something else…a scent in the air; it was…white plum? The assassin looked to where the smell was coming from. There was a woman standing in the rain and holding an umbrella. Her skin was a bit lighter than the normal person's, and she had long midnight black hair and a silk scarf in her left hand. But the most obvious thing about her right now, was that her kimono was covered in blood. Blood, from the man that Kenshin had just killed.

            Kenshin could only stand up and face her. Her eyes, they looked right at him but at the same time made her seem like she was staring at someplace far, far away. She said something, but Kenshin wasn't paying attention to her words. He tossed aside the short sword in his hand and looked at the woman.

            _She saw me,_ he thought. As an assassin it was his responsibility to kill his targets without being found out. So far Kenshin had been very good at that. Not one of the people that had seen him murder another had lived to tell about it. But…the only people who had ever been around when he did kill were the bodyguards of his targets, never an innocent bystander. So…what should he do? _Should I…kill her?_

            "You're bleeding," the woman said before walking towards him. "Here, let me…help…you." She only gotten a few more steps before collapsing, the woman would have hit the ground had not Kenshin reached out and caught her.

            He looked down at her unconscious form and smelled that scent again. It was definitely coming from her. Well, he couldn't just leave her out in the rain like this. Throwing the mystery woman over his shoulder Kenshin walked over to where her umbrella was then started to make his way back to the inn. He could figure out what to do with her later.

            Once again in her guise of a kimono and ordinary serving girl, Sakura cleaned the dirty dinner bowels while under the supervision of the inn's mistress. Since no one knew of her real occupation so she needed to keep this one for show, Katsura went so far as to have her move inside the inn like the other girls who worked there.

            All in all it wasn't that much different than her time at the Kogoro estate. Katsura had even arranged for Sakura to have her own room, it was in case she was ever injured on the job. People would become suspicious if a waitress came home late one night with gashes all over her body to have them disappear the next day. Getting caught in an assassination wouldn't be a good excuse, while Ranma was an assassin, Sakura was supposed to be an ordinary girl, and no ordinary girl could survive running into an assassin or questioning by the Shinsen Gumi.

            "When you're done with that there's some laundry that needs-" a knock on the door cut the landlady off and she looked over to the back door. She had Sakura return to her work before going to answer it. "Ah, good evening Mr. Himura."

            At the sound of Kenshin's name Sakura looked up from her task to see the redheaded samurai walking through the door with a blue umbrella in his hand and a woman flung across his back. She was dressed in a kimono that had been smeared with blood. She also had a strange, flowery scent about her.

            Sakura could only blink at the sight with little passion. To keep going insane from regret she had followed Kenshin's example and kept her icy exterior up at all times, or else she would have become nothing but a mass of tears weeks ago. Ther were a few side effects, and she could not keep her frozen shield in front of her heart when dreams assaulted her, but apart from that the icy shell wrapped around her heart kept the sorrow at bay.

            "I will require a room for this woman," he said before walking in and taking off his sandals then putting the umbrella and woman down.

            "My you Choshu soldiers are so industrious," the landlady replied. "You go out killing all night and still find time to pick up a whore."

            "I said a need a room for her," Kenshin told her a little bit more forcefully than before.

            "There are no vacancies," the landlady said as she turned her attention back on a bowl she was cleaning. "Besides I run a replicable inn, not a brothel. You should try taking her down to Mr. Tanaka's."

            "My room."

            Both Kenshin and the landlady looked up from their conversation and over to Sakura. "If…if you want her to stay for the night so badly I can let her stay in my room with me. She smells too nice to stay in a place like Tanaka's" the girl looked over to the woman and then to the landlady. "I trust that is alright you?"

            The woman looked at Sakura for a moment, then nodded. "Very well, go and clean her up while I find some dry clothes."

            Sakura nodded then slowly got up and walked over to the mystery woman's unconscious form before lifting her up in both arms. She studies the woman's face for a few moments, it was so peaceful, and refined…just like…Sakura shook that train of thought out of her head then started to head towards the stairs.

            "Thank you."

            "No problem," Sakura told Kenshin. "But bring some extra blankets to my room for her, more than the usual amount. It gets very cold at night in my room this time of year."

            After making her way to the back of the kitchen where they could have some privacy. Sakura put a kettle of water over a small fire to warm it up so she could wash the woman's face without freezing her. They didn't have the time right now to clean her properly, so a hot washcloth to wash away the blood would be enough.

            A moment later the owner of the inn came with some fresh clothes for her to sleep in and laid them down quietly while Sakura removed the woman's kimono. Midway through Sakura stopped as she felt something solid that should not be there tucked away behind the woman's back, and then grasped it before removing the object. "A dagger," the assassin mumbled as she looked at the sheathed weapon before handing it to the landlady and continued the task of undressing the mystery woman.

            As Kenshin stood there in the now deserted room he held up the dagger that he had slipped out of the woman's clothes then looked back to Sakura easily carrying a woman much larger than her with no apparent discomfort. That girl…there was something definitely wrong about her. Kenshin couldn't quite put his finger on it, like it was something edging at the back of his mind but he couldn't quite bring it to the surface.

            Well, he'd have plenty of time to dell on that strange feeling later. Repressing a shiver from the odd coldness of the room Kenshin walked into the inn to find some blankets. Perhaps he could get one for himself, there seemed to be a strange chill in the air tonight.

            Tomoe Yukishiro awoke to the sound of someone shifting blankets and a depressed voice moaning in her sleep. She slowly sat up wondering where she was before a splitting pain in her skull caused her to stop. She clutched her hear and massaged her forehead a little to try and help with the hangover.

            Last night…she had remembered becoming depressed, and then seeing a bar so she decided to get drunk and drown her sorrows, but nothing after that. She had been doing that a lot lately ever since her fiancée's death, it seemed to be the only thing that could help with the pain in her soul.

            Her fiancée, the man she had loved since childhood was dead. Killed on the streets of the very city she was in while serving one of the shogunate as a bodyguard. His family, as well as her own, they all blamed her for it, and she agreed with them. She had encouraged him to try and be a man he was not, and because of that he was dead.

            "No…please…I'm sorry..."

            Hearing the sound across the room again Tomoe looked over while letting her eyes adjust to the low light. The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon so most of the room was still cast in shadow, but she could make out the shape of a girl rolling around and trying to kick free of her blankets.

            Since the girl was obviously having a nightmare the woman slowly slid the blankets off of herself then slowly made her way over to the girl. Once within reach Tomoe reached over and shook the little redhead on the shoulder causing the girl to practically jump awake with a small scream.

            Ranma jumped awake panting and soaked in her own sweat. It had been that dream again. He had been standing alone as a male in a dark room while voices, dozens upon dozens of voices of dead men calling out his name, asking why did he kill them. Then the walls would start to bleed and eventually drowned her in blood.

            That dream was even worse than the one with the cats.

            As always it would end with Ranma awakening with a scream and then the feelings of guilt, remorse, and self hatred would settle in. The realization of just what she was doing, and then the tears of regret for those actions. Then she would push them away and wrap herself in that ice-cold armor of the mind. But the feelings were getting harder to push away every morning. 

            "Are you alright?"

            The voice brought Ranma out of her morning routine as she realized that her arms were wrapped around something and a hand was wiping away her tears.

            _The woman from last night_, Ranma realized as she felt the stranger's other hand stroke her hair while Ranma's breathing slowed as her mind calmed down. However she did not let go of the woman just yet while her head lay against her breasts. The woman's presence comforted Ranma somewhat, and that was something she had not had since arriving in this time period months ago.

            "Are you alright?" she asked again. "You were crying out in your sleep, I thought it best to wake you." Ranma's mind heard the woman's words and took in her scent, everything about her seemed to radiate a kind of peace, and Ranma clung to it desperately.

            However it had to eventually come to and end and Ranma eventually let go of her and then looked up into the woman's face. "I…" Ranma paused trying to think of the right words to say. She had no want to put her foot in her mouth this time around, and the Soul of Ice option was out, it didn't seem right for Ranma to hide herself in front of the stranger. "Yes, thank you for your concern."

            The woman looked at Ranma carefully for a moment then finally spoke. "Are you the one who brought me home? I remember someone with red hair, and…red rain. I'm sorry, I was very drunk at the time."

            Ranma blinked at the woman then shook her head. "No," Ranma replied. "The man who brought you in was Kenshin, I just offered you my room since there were no vacancies. He is the one you should thank." Ranma paused for a moment then spoke again. "So, what's your name?"

            "My name is Tomoe," she told the boy turned girl in a gentle voice.

            As the morning came to pass, Tomoe found herself working at the inn she had stayed at the night before thanks to Sakura's influence. Either one unable to go back to sleep she and the younger woman had spent the entire morning talking to each other while the sun rose. In that short time Tomoe had found that she liked the short woman, although Sakura's manners definitely left something to be desired.

            It was later on when she was serving breakfast that Tomoe met her other benefactor. He was a young man with a scar on the left side of his face, a swordsman, there seemed to be a lot of them here. However one in paticualiar caught her attention, he was loud, rude, and obnoxious. He also got a tray of food thrown at his head by Sakura when he asked Kenshin if he and Tomoe had slept together and if she was good.

            Ok, so maybe Sakura's lack of manners wasn't such a bad thing after all.

            Sakura frowned as she was forced to clean the fine china rice bowls by herself under the supervision of the landlady. Then after this she had to clean out the pantry, and about a dozen other jobs. _Gee you break one stupid rice bowl and you're paying for it for the rest of your life. I said I was sorry…well to the boss anyway, Iizuka can get a concussion for all I care_, she thought to herself with a frown.

            Although, even though she was stuck doing the crappy jobs, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little happy. For the first time since she had started…working here she wasn't wrapped up in the Soul of Ice. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest after talking with Tomoe and crying in the woman's arms.

            Crying, less than half a year ago Ranma would have been beating herself up for doing such a thing. But, to let out all that pain and despair while wrapped in the comforting arms of another, it felt…good. And the fact that Tomoe seemed to just ratite a motherly aura only helped take the pain away.

            Was this what it was like to have a mother? Ranma really didn't know. She had met her mother before as 'Ranko Tendo' but that relationship between her and Nodoka was just a lie. Ranma couldn't ever come to his mother with his problems because she _was_ one of the problems, and if the curse was ever revealed and by some act of God Nodoka decided to ignore it, crying was definitely not manly. Then there were the others, they would just laugh at him or try to use the pain to try and curry favor in the fiancée race. Genma would belittle him, Akane would laugh at him like she did with his first kiss being a guy, Shampoo would try to use it go get closer to him, as would Ukyo, and Nabiki would probably tape the thing and sell it to his rivals.

            How…childish that all seemed now. That was the funny thing about killing people; it sure made you grow up fast.

            Hearing someone enter the room Ranma slipped back into her Sakura persona and looked up to see Kenshin standing there in the doorway. He looked over to the landlady and called her name to get her attention. "I was wondering on how long you plan on letting Tomoe stay here?"

            "The new girl that Sakura brought in?" the lady asked. "Well she is a good worker."

            "Yes, I'm sure she is," Kenshin replied. "But how long?"

            "She can stay as long as she likes," woman told him. "You are the one that begged me to take her in remember? Besides, all of you Choshu men may be very good customers, but you keep my girls very busy. Do you know how hard it is to serve twenty hungry and lecherous men? Especially when all on of my girls does is shout and break things?" Sakura looked up at her boss and glared for a moment before returning to work. "She may have made some mistakes in the past but that's hardly my concern."

            The conversation was brought to a grinding halt as Iizuka came into the doorway looking for Kenshin. He was still sporting the bruise from when Sakura had hit him earlier. "There you are," he said. "Katsura and Katagai are here and there wanting to meet with us." He looked over Kenshin's shoulder and down at Sakura. "Oh, and he wants the tramp to bring him some tea for the meeting."

            _Mustn't kill, mustn't kill_, Sakura told herself. She thought about wrapping herself in the Soul of Ice, but if she started doing that again she might get back in the habit of keeping it up, and feeling any emotion was better than none. "Very well, just let me finish this bowel," she said before they both walked off.

            "Well it seems that the boy is not the only one being effected by this newcomer," the landlady said as Sakura stood up.

            "Huh?" Sakura asked.

            "Your eyes, they seem to have a fire in them that hasn't been there for some time now," she replied. "The same with that boy, he seems to be softening up a little. Well, hurry up and get going, you still have that extra work to do today you know."

            Katsura walked down the halls of the inn next to Katagai and with his head assassin and his field chief trailing behind while Sakura was off to the side of the two assassins offering them drinks. For once the cold air that seemed to always accompany the girl had dissipated. She had explained to him once that it froze her heart and emotions so that she could go through with the assassinations he assigned to her; the coldness was just a side effect.

            As they passed an empty room he noticed a new girl in a pink kimono with long black hair carrying a basket of laundry and headed in the opposite direction as them. He stopped for a moment and studied her to make sure he hadn't seen her around anywhere before asking. "Who is that woman?"

            "The men whisper of a new girl," Katagai informed him.

            "That's the whore," Iizuka confirmed.

            Off to his side Katsura could see Sakura's face twist into a frown at Iizuka's words while Kenshin turned around. "She is no whore," he snarled.

            A new girl that Kenshin had brought in then. Well, it was said that love sometimes made you blind. She could have been sent in as a spy, Katsura wasn't one of those men who immediately discarded women as useless when it came to war. Sakura's appearance and abilities only seemed to confirm those beliefs. "Has she been alone with any of the men yet?" Katsura asked.

            "Master Katsura," Kenshin cried.

            "No sir," Sakura assured her. "So far she has only spent one night here. We slept together in my room, that is all."

            "Very well," Katsura said. Well, there was no chance taking risks. None of Sakura's combat gear was stored inside the inn to be on the safe side, but still…she was given a separate room for a reason, to keep her almost superhuman regeneration abilities a secret. "Iizuka, find out what you can about her just to be on the safe side."

            "Yes sir," Iizuka responded.

            "Himura," Katagai called out in his usual deep and serious voice. "We didn't come here to talk about that woman. Did you kill a man last night?"

            "Yes sir, just as we planned," Kenshin told him.

            "I'm referring to the man who attacked you on the road last night," Katagai clarified.

            "So the boy ran into trouble on the way home," Iizuka said. "But we didn't have time to clean that little mess of his up."

            "Where was he from?" Katagai asked.

            "I believe he was an assassin sent by the Shogunate," Kenshin told him.

            "One of the Shinsen Gumi?" Katagai theorized.

            "No, he was far too crude and vicious for those wolves," he said.

            "Then it must have been a Niwaban-Shu ninja," Katsura concluded.

            "Yes," Kenshin confirmed.

            "This is distressing," Katagai said. "You're the second most secretive assassin working for us. Only a select few of our people even know about your existence. I can't see how anyone would know to send someone after you."

            "So then there is a traitor among us," Kenshin said.

            Katsura sighed and nodded in agreement as Sakura handed him a cup of tea. If he was going to keep her around for these meetings then he might as well keep up appearances. Personally he had long suspected that there was a traitor, and he would have to be in the top ranks to even know about Kenshin's existence. That was why Katsura had kept Sakura's involvement in this plot to himself. "Yes, that is something I must regretfully agree with you on. I will have to deal with this matter personally. Just have the men focus their efforts on the Shinsen Gumi for now, and allow me to deal with this traitor."

            "Yes sir," all the men agreed.

            Katsura dismissed the men and they left down the hall leaving him to nurse his cup of tea while Sakura attended to him. "You seem different today," he said.

            "Yeah," she agreed in her usual crude manner. "I got to let go of some of my frustrations last night." She paused for a moment then sighed. "I take it that you'll be wanting me to investigate this matter then? I can be quite discrete."

            Katsura nodded his head causing Sakura to smile and looked up at the sky. To his memory, it was the first time that he had seen a smile on her face. She took in a deep breath through the nose then looked back to Katsura. "What's got you so in high spirits today?"

            "Are you kidding?" she asked. "Today I got a new friend, finally managed to get Iizuka to shut his stupid mouth, walked out of that damn cold shell, and you just gave me a break from having to murder people. I'd say that's plenty to smile about."

            Katsura looked at the girl for a moment more before smiling back. "Well I suppose you're right. Just don't get too used to the rest, you're my best assassin and I'll need you back to work as soon as possible."

            "Yeah, yeah," Sakura replied while waving her hand as of to shoo Katsura away. "Spoil my good mood." Before Katsura could say anything else she reached over and snatched his cup from this hand and started walking away. "Now if you'll excuse me I've still got bowls to clean."

            Katsura merely stood there for a moment longer before shaking his head and heading off to catch up with Katagai to prepare his own investigation into this spy business. Whatever had seemed to effect Sakura seemed to be for the best, and he would leave it alone for now as long as she did her job. He hated having to resort to using his greatest weapon against his own men, but if the Shogunate knew about Kenshin, then the leak would have to be very high up in the chain of command. 


	4. Side Story 1

See 1st Chapter for Disclaimer

AN: Well seeing all the positive feedback I got from the 1st side story and the fact that I'm a little writer's blocked in the current RK R1/2 crossover I'm writing I've decided to do another to help get the juices flowing. When I was writing the Revolution Arc I realized that although I showed Tomoe's Ranma's, and Kenshin's actions, I didn't really get their mindsets down very well and although I don't like going back in the storyline and adding something in, this is just one of those things that kind of needs to be there.

So without further a due 

Side Story 1: Tides of Change

-The Girl-

            "_If I'm going to do something, I'm going to be the best at it_."

            I remember saying that when I was little, I'm not sure when, but I remember the words. It has always been my way of thinking. Even during competitions of when I turned myself into a girl, or whenever faced with something I hated doing, I did it to the best of my ability and beyond because I wanted to be better than _everyone_ else in the field no matter what.

            That is true even now. Yet, I take no pride in my latest accomplishment, in fact I hate it.

            It is late at night as I lay under the blankets with my body pressed up against that of Tomoe's while she holds me in her arms. She is not asleep either, that much I can tell simply by the steady beating of her heart and the way she breaths through her nose and onto my hair as my head rests against her chest like a pillow.

            In her arms I feel safe, loved, cared for, befriended, and a thousand other wonderful feelings that I never experienced before. It is as if while I lay here Tomoe has covered me with a blanket stitched from every pleasant emotion a human can feel.  

            Funny, a year ago I would have thought of myself as a pervert, here I am sleeping with a woman who has no idea of what I truly am, much the same as Ryoga does with Akane. But, this is nothing like that; unlike the pig I have no attraction to Tomoe whatsoever. I need her protection, nothing more.

            Oh, don't get me wrong. Tomoe is beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful person I have ever seen both inside and out. Her long raven black hair that frames her perfect face and then flows down her back never seems to be even one hair out of place, even when I carried her through the inn for the first time she still seemed to carry an unearthly beauty that no one could ever hope to match.

            As Tomoe shifts in the bed a little I try not to tense too much from the feel of her body rubbing up against my own. Trying to project my mind elsewhere before my face becomes bright enough to double as a nightlight I try to think of other matters than the woman in my bed.

            Katsura is starting to grow a little agitated at the lack of evidence that my investigation is producing.

            I hope he doesn't send me out to kill again, I may have Tomoe here to protect me from the after effects of my conscience, but I still don't like it. Although the action itself has taught me some things. Now I think I understand why so many people use weapons to murder others. With a sword all you feel is a quick pull as the blade slices through bones, and cuts the flesh. By using my hands, I can fell every muscle tear, every bone snap, the skin being torn, and my victim's still beating heart stop as I rip it from their bodies with my bloody hand.

            Yes, a sword makes murdering people easier in more ways than one.

            Then, there is the feeling you get afterwards, I'm not sure, but if I would be forced to name it, the feeling would be…superiority? Imagine a human being, a construct of flesh and bone that took years upon years of hard work and diligence to create, and I destroy it in a matter of moments with a simple gesture and pull of my hand.

            Holding down a yawn if shift my body a little and try and move on to more pleasant thoughts than murder.

            Like why I'm doing this? To go home I remind myself. But, somehow that doesn't seem to comfort me as it used to early on. The plans of my growing a little more complex with every person I interact with.

            Have I really changed so much in just a year? When I think back to how my life used to be and the people I used to know, my opinions of them differ greatly than what I originally thought so much so I wonder if I am remembering them correctly.

            First and foremost there is my father, the person who raised me since I was six. At first I thought of him so beneath me because he was always avoiding the issues, or shoving all of his problems onto me without sticking up for himself once. Actually, I think I understand him a little better. While it was very true that he is an idiot that never thinks anything through, it's because during that training trip he did what he had to do to keep us alive.

            Second is my mother. I must say that strangely even though I am living in a past time that it seems like there is someone with her traditional values around every corner, my view of her is greatly diminished. I guess it comes from listening to Katsura talk about the new world that he is helping to create. Fighting and killing for a cause that is almost the complete opposite of the 'traditional' values that my mother prizes so much makes them seem less than they were. Oh, I still love my mother, I think I do, but I just do not believe that she should try to force her opinion onto 'Ranko Tendo' or anyone else.

            Soun would be next on the list. Him, well I must say that while I didn't respect the man much before my little trip through time, I outright hate him now. He never once seemed to ever stand up for anything, even the subject of the engagement could that made him do his intimidation trick was nothing if someone actually threatened him with physical injury. People who are too afraid to stand up for their opinions or beliefs aren't allowed to have any, and the words of a hypocrite can only fall on deaf ears.

            Then there is the 'mother' of the Tendo household: Kasumi. In some ways I respect her, but in others I find the girl as lacking as her father. While she had tried to fill the role of the mother for her sisters by doing the domestic chores, she has forgotten to include the qualities of a real parent such as guidance for the people she takes care of. Looking back as I am now I remember dozens of fights or problems that could have been easily solved with a few kind words from her, but instead she ignored her real duties as a mother in favor of those belonging to a maid. She is jus an empty headed servant, nothing more.

            The next in line would be Nabiki: ruthless, cold, cunning, and a real bitch. I have to say I like her. She takes what she needs or wants anyway she can little thought to the other people involved, and uses every trick she knows to get an advantage. Yes, there is something in that girl worth noticing, probably the most promising out of her whole family. Of course now I'd probably just as soon tear her in half if she tried to blackmail me into something rather than obey.

            Last would be Akane. Looking back I think I finally understood what I saw in her, acceptance; like what I feel with the woman whose arms I occupy. She was the first to offer me friendship, and even though it was taken away I still clung to that first offer.

            God I was such an idiot back then.

            How many times did she get in my way for a cure, simply out of spite or her own greed? The three urns for the Japanese Nyannichuan, the Anything Goes Obstacle Course, the three legged spring race, the water proof soap…the list goes on. Every time she stood in my way with her petty feelings of jealousy, opposing me simply because I wasn't getting a cure from her or she wanted to be praised.

            With a yawn I try and get as comfortable as I can while continuing to think about my home.

            But the more I think about my old Tokyo, the more my urge to go back…decreases, letting something unfamiliar take it's place.

-The Woman-

            As the night rolls on I find myself unable to sleep. I know it is not the temperature, I am quite warm, and very comfortable, I just can't seem to sleep.

            For quite possibly the hundredth time I wonder why I'm here in Kyoto, in this room. I have no good reason to be here, no real need for the room and board. For the hundredth time I wonder why I do not go back to my family, or at least someplace else and away from here.

            I can find no reasons to leave, yet I can think of no good ones to stay either.

            Feeling little Sakura-chan relax in my arms I can tell she has finally fallen asleep. Poor girl, even when she smiles I can see that her body still has tension all over. Others may not notice it, but I do. I still wonder what has happened to such a vibrant young girl to make her act like so. But I remain silent for fear of loosing her, even with her strange mannerisms and mother fixation she has directed towards me, Sakura is still my only female companion in this place.

            I look down and run my fingers though the child's bright red hair. It's even brighter than his.

            Damnit, I'm thinking about him again.

            When I came to Kyoto looking for _him_, I had high expectations. I wanted an honorless murderer who was seven feet tall and brimming with muscle with an evil sneer on his face and red hair that was the color of the fames of hell, soaked in the blood of his victims.

            Instead, I got a boy. A boy who had carried me home in the rain and arranged for lodging, a boy who cared for my honor and well-being. A boy with a kind face and compassionate face. But…even a boy can become a murderer. That I know all too clearly.

            I know because today when I went into his room and awoke him accidentally, I saw in his amber eyes the madness that lay within there. Those are not the eyes of a boy, or even a human. They are the eyes of a killer, a wild beast that's hungry for its prey.

            Yet…even thought I know of him as a killer, and seen him with the eyes of one, whenever the image of Kenshin appears in my mind I think of him with those calm, gentle violet eyes and the small hint of a smile on his face that can not seem to come.

            Damnit, I called him by his name again. Why is it so hard for me to think of how he really is? How everyone says he is? He is supposed to be surrounded in death, the Hitokiri Battousai, the man who slays while drawing his sword, even his name revolves around death.

            But as much as I try to think of him as the man who killed my fiancée, all I can ever seem to see in my mind is a short boy with red hair on the edge of manhood whose eyes are filled with sadness. I try with all my heart to find a way to hate him as I once did, as the murderer who killed the man I once loved and ruined my life.

            Yet the more I try, and the more I think about him, the more my reasons to hate him…decrease, letting something unfamiliar take its place.

Ending AN: Well there you have it, a little peek into Ranma's mind during the revolution. For the OOC you've got to remember that even when he was with Tomoe, Ranma still had a manslayer's mindset, which basically means a lack of caring for all human life. Being with the grown up Tomoe doesn't remove this mindset, it actually helps it along by not letting Ranma have those brief moments of sadness for his actions. It was only after being trained in Fung Shui and seeing the future that Ranma started becoming the permanent cold and merciless killer, before hand he was more like Sojiro Seta during his off hours with Tomoe around.


	5. Chapter 4

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

Chapter 4: The Flames of Revolution

            Ranma let out a yawn and slowly laid back down on her futon, letting the sore muscles in her hands and legs finally get some rest. With all the work she had after Katsura left there hadn't been any time to do any snooping around. But there was always tomorrow. At least it was better than killing people.

            Killing people. Just a few months ago Ranma would have become horrified at that thought. Ranma had never killed anyone, not even Herb when he locked her in this form for the first time. But then Happosai came, and took the one thing that was probably the most important thing in the entire world to her, Nodoka. She couldn't remember how long she had wanted to meet her mother as a man, free of the curse. To make her proud by being the son she wanted.

            Then Happosai took that away just so he could cop a feel twenty four seven. Something snapped inside Ranma's mind that day. Her anger and hatred of the old freak pushed her past a barrier that had been set up, and for that brief period of time she became stronger, faster, more powerful than she ever had…but she lost something too, that little piece of her mind that said what she was doing was wrong. But while the power vanished and that little piece came back a few days later, its voice didn't seem to be as loud as it once was.

            The sound of a door opening and Tomoe's scent filling her nose brought Ranma out of her thoughts and made her look to the woman coming to lay down on the futon next to her. Ranma looked at her for a moment. What was it about this woman? Just being around her, having the scent of white plums fill the air, seemed to make Ranma relax. She seemed to radiate peace and calm like Kasumi, but it was so refined and didn't seem to have the eldest Tendo's naivety.

            "Is something wrong?" Tomoe asked after settling under her covers causing Ranma to jerk a little.

            Realizing that she had been staring Ranma quickly turned onto her back and let out a sigh. "Nah, I'm fine," she recovered. "Sorry for staring, it's just…you remind me of someone I used to know." As thoughts of her mother entered Ranma's mind she quickly pushed them aside, she couldn't think about that right now. She really needed to change the subject. "Oh, uh, sorry for waking you up last night with my nightmare and all."

            "That is quite alright," Tomoe replied. "You looked like you needed it anyway." She paused for a moment as if unsure what to say then looked back over to Ranma. "Do you mind telling me what it was about? Talking about your problems can sometimes help you know, especially ones that cause you bad dreams."

            "Naw, it was probably just a one time thing," Ranma assured her before readjusting herself into a more comfortable position and closing her eyes. "Night, Tomoe."

            "Good night Sakura, and sweet dreams," the woman replied.

            However, Ranma's dreams were far from what Tomoe wished them to be.

            It was dark, too dark to make out anything around him as Ranma walked home towards the dojo. Behind him a trail of red liquid was left from the blood running down his hands. But that didn't matter, he was finally going to get to come home, after so much time. Everything he had worked so hard for had finally worked out, and he was home.

            Opening the door Ranma was greeting by a huge welcome back sign and all of his friends and family. He looked around, counting off all the people in his mind. There was Ukyo, and Akane, and Kasumi, the old ghoul Cologne, Shampoo, Genma, his mother, Hiroshi, Yuka, Ryoga, Happosai holding his decapitated head, the nobleman who's heart he had ripped out, the young samurai with his head twisted 180 degrees, the old balm man who's throat he had ripped out…a young member of the shogunate who's chest he had caved in…the list and faces that accompanied them went on and on, and as he looked around the room Ranma notices that instead of looking of welcome hatred and fear were plain on everyone's faces.

            "Akane?" Ranma asked.

            "EEEEK Get it away," the girl shrieked before running back with a terrified expression and into Ryoga's arms.

            "What a sick and disgusting thing," Kasumi said.

            "It's an animal, get it away," Ukyo screamed.

            "Foul creature," Genma yelled. "Get back down where you belong!" At Genma's shout the floor beneath Ranma gave way beneath him and he reached out in time to grab the ledge. Below, Ranma could hear the sound of cats hissing and crying out in anger while blood red claws reached to try and drag him down.

            Terrified, Ranma looked back up to the edge, trying to get a better grip, but the blood, there was so much blood on his hands they were to slippery. He clawed forward, trying to pull himself up, but the blood, it made it so hard. Finally, he looked up to see his mother standing above him. "Mom!" Ranma cried. "Mom you've got to help me, I came back for you mom! Don't let him to this!"

            Nodoka stood there silent and unmoving for a moment before slowly drawing her katana. She looked at Ranma with a scowl before finally making a downward slash to slice off his fingers and let him fall down to where the cats were waiting.

            Tomoe was awoken in the middle of the night again by the sound of Sakura talking in her sleep. She slowly looked over to see the girl thrashing and mumbling in her sleep, it was another nightmare. For a moment Tomoe could only lay there and wonder what could trouble Sakura so much. She had seemed too alive and vibrant during the day, but now she looked a like a lost child.

            Slowly, Tomoe pushed the covers on her futon back and sat up to shake Sakura awake when the sound of the girl talking in her sleep caused her to stop. "No…dad…no…please…stop…I don't…please someone make them stop."

            Tomoe could only sit there in shock. Had her father…? From what she could tell Tomoe knew that Sakura was a ronin that was taken in like Tomoe herself was, but she never knew the reason. It wasn't any wonder that the poor girl ran away from home.

            Her moments hesitation gone Tomoe slowly reached down and pulled the blankets off of Sakura then brought the short girl up into her arms, and out the grasp of whatever demons her sleeping mind had sent roaming free. A few seconds later Tomoe could hear light sobbing as Sakura cried into the older woman's breast like a child while Tomoe rocked her back and forth.

            As the night wore on Tomoe eventually calmed Sakura down and she talked to the girl to try and get her mind off those things. Finally, tiredness started to settle in on both the women and Tomoe once again wrapped her arms around the younger girl like a mother before pulling her into Tomoe's own bed and putting a blanket over them both.

            This time, as she lay sleeping there, Sakura didn't kick, scream, or moan once. In fact, even in the dark night, Tomoe could see a smile appear on the girl's face.

            Three days later Ranma found herself helping Tomoe and the other women of the inn set flowers inside vases. In the previous four nights Ranma had fallen into a pattern: look around for anything unusual in one of the men's quarters, find nothing, finish up the work at the in, go back to her room and see Tomoe writing in her journal or letters to her family, then climb into bed and wait for Tomoe to come and go to sleep. All in all it wasn't that bad.

            She looked down at the arrangement of flowers in front of her, and almost wanted to laugh. Only a few months ago, if anyone had told Ranma she would have been doing something like this she would have broken every bone in his or her body. But now…it just made her feel so…peaceful and relaxed, it was a feeling she hadn't felt in recent weeks, and it felt good.

            As two of the girls departed to get more vases Ranma caught the scent of white plum in the air and looked up to see Tomoe sitting down with another basket of flowers.

            Tomoe Yukishiro…Ranma really didn't know what she felt about the woman. She had spent another night in the woman's arms like the night before. It was a strange relationship that didn't seem to make much sense to her. When Ranma was awake, she could easily fend off any number of attacks or other kinds of threats, but when it came time to sleep, Ranma soon found herself lacking in defenses and Tomoe protected her. Even in a state of unconsciousness Ranma could feel the other woman's delicate arms wrapped around her and her scent seeped into Ranma's nose, reassuring her of Tomoe's presence.

            It was like…a mother and her child.

            Taking the basket from Tomoe Ranma smiled then looked back down to continue her thoughts.

            Was that what she was it was supposed to be like with a mother and her son? Ranma had never really met her mother, oh she had seen her, and talked to her as 'Ranko' but the relationship with Nodoka was nothing compared to the kind of bond she had with Tomoe. 

            Whenever Nodoka came to the house she always became so intent on making 'Ranko Tendo' into a proper young lady all the meanwhile asking about her 'manly son' while holding her katana; she might has well of been waving that seppuku contract in Ranma's face while she was at it. She wanted to force everyone and everything into what she thought was proper for a traditional Japanese household. Then there was Tomoe, a real traditional Japanese woman. But instead of trying to work on Ranma's manners or turning her into something she wasn't, Tomoe accepted what was and was the best friend that Ranma had found in her entire life, despite the fact that Ranma was currently considered without a family; which was considered an even worse taboo in this time than in his own.

            Slipping back into her Sakura persona the redhead slowly looked over to where Tomoe was sitting and helping with the flowers and then noticed they were still alone. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For last night I mean, and for not telling anyone."

            Sakura felt a soft hand stroke her hair a little then felt a little squeeze on her palm. "It's alright," Tomoe whispered.

            Sakura gave the woman a little smile then pushed the few strands of hair back behind her back. It was strange, when she thought about it, she had taken the dragon hair out of her pigtail when she had started working at the inn, hell she didn't even wear it in a pigtail anymore and just let it hang loose; but it hadn't seemed to grow any. Maybe it was some weird side effect of her insane hair growth a year ago.

            Putting those thoughts aside, Sakura sat down near the back of the garden along with her honorary mother as they began to arrange the flowers for the vases. Strange, only a year ago she would have felt ashamed doing this very thing no matter what the reason. Now, Sakura couldn't imagine herself being any happier any other way.

            Leaning over on her mother's shoulder for support, Ranma sighed in contentment as her eyes slowly closed under the weight of little sleep for the past few nights. But instead of putting her back on alert, Tomoe simply scooted the younger girl closer so she would have better support and then continued on with her work.

            The rain was coming down in a refreshing drizzle as Katsura sat inside the small hut, a small rest stop about a mile outside Kyoto, alongside Katagai and with his back towards Iizuka. The field chief was currently eating some miniature rice balls, and had come to tell them all the information he had gathered on that new girl at the inn, Tomoe.

            "What have you learned?"

            "Well judging by her accent and manner it's clear that she isn't from Kyoto," Iizuka replied to Katsura's question. "From what I've seen of her writing I'm sure she was finely educated. At first I thought she was from a wealth samurai family from the Kanto region. But, when I checked there was no record of her identity in the family registries. As a last resort I checked around all the whorehouses but no one knew her name or her scent; white plum by the way."

            "Well, if she is a spy she could have destroyed her records," Katagai surmised.

            "No, I would have come across something like that already," Iizuka responded. "And the only person she ever seems to talk to is that red haired girl that you brought in Katsura. So, unless that tramp's her contact it's unlikely that she's a spy." He paused for a moment to get a bite of rice then continued. "My guess is that her family became so poor they sold her into prostitution, and she just drifted here with the trade rout. It happens all the time."

            "I see," Katsura replied. "Anything else?"

            "Nope, that's all I could find."

            Katsura nodded and stood up along with Katagai before setting his cup of tea down and gathering his traveling clothes for the long walk back to Kyoto. Well, if Iizuka couldn't find any incriminating evidence about her then he might as well let the girl stay. Katsura had already tried getting some information out of Sakura but the girl refused to even look at what the woman was writing in her journal. The girl was becoming more rebellious of late, but seemed to be acting more natural, and that strange aura of cold that had surrounded her during their meetings had dissipated. Was this the way she acted before he met her? If so, as long as it didn't get in the way Katsura was willing to let it continue. It seemed a shame to crush a spirit of a girl like that, even if it was for a good cause.

            As they neared Kyoto, Katsura's thoughts turned towards other matters. So far Sakura's investigation hadn't turned up anything. It seemed she was a much better assassin than a spy. If she kept at this snails pace of investigation then he would have to turn the matter over to someone else. The question was who? If they knew about Kenshin then they must have been close to Katsura himself in the chain of command, right now the only person he could think of that would fit the bill would be Katagai. But Katagai was needed for other matters.

            His train of thought ended as he departed from Katagai and headed for his home. After getting some of the servants and finding he had a letter from one of his comrades Katsura headed up to his private dinning room where his wife Ikumatsu was waiting for him in her blue kimono and a flue in her hand. As soon as he sat down in front of his meal she put her lips to the instrument and played. 

            Katsura simply sat there for a moment and listened to the music for a moment. It was a nice, peaceful song that drove the tension out of his body. Sometimes, he thought that if it wasn't for his wife's music to sooth him, Katsura would have gone insane with the stress of this conflict a long time ago.

            As the song continued Katsura took a sip of tea then opened the letter to read it. 

                        _Be careful Katsura, your hometown in rumbling with rumors and skepticism about Choshu clan_._ The old politicians are too frightened to support you against the Tokugawa Shogunate. Mieabi's group is probably the worst. For now, we need to be patient_.

            The letter was not signed with any signature, as it shouldn't be in case it was discovered before arrival. In fact it was a risk just mentioning Katsura's name at all.

            "So, was it bad news?" Ikumatsu asked.

            "I'm afraid I haven't read a letter of good news in many years," Katsura confessed.

            "Oh really?" she replied. "I recall writing letters to you."

            "Those were different," he told her. The smile he got from the woman was the only response he needed for his comment.

            "How is Takasugi faring?" she asked in a change of subject.

            "His health is declining daily," Katsura told her sadly. "Now, he can't even spend time with a woman for fear of spreading his disease."

            "He can not even spend time with his consort?" she replied. "I feel sorry for her."

            "She understands. Takasugi has always lived his life like a drawn sword. Once he starts out on a path nothing can deter him from his way."

            "I see," she said. "You know, if Takasugi is like a drawn sword, then perhaps his wife Uno could help him by serving as a…sheath."

            Katsura looked over to his wife with an eyebrow slightly raised. He could see her analogy, like a sword that is constantly in use it would evenly become ruined and useless before its time. The same could be said for man, heading down one path with unwavering determination without rest of any kind would definitely take years off a person's life. "I suppose so."

            The rest of the meal was eaten in silence and Katsura bid farewell to his wife before leaving the house. He still had some work to do, and another assignment for Kenshin tonight. Just because his enemies knew of Kenshin's existence didn't mean that they knew his targets.

            It was the middle of the night as Hajime Saito along with seven other of his men stood on a dirt rode right in front of a flight of stairs that led to a Shinto temple a little ways outside of Kyoto. However he and his men weren't here to pray or anything else of the like, they were here on business. Below them stood the body of one of their number, and three more lay dead on the steps.

            The group of dead men had been given an assignment of protecting a government official that had been visiting the shrine this very night. However it seemed that nothing went as expected.

            "His bones were cut clean through," Okita said while looking at the dead man. Okita was probably one of the youngest members in the Shinsen Gumi, but also one of the most skilled. Anyone who thought him inexperienced because of his age would end up dead.

            "Yes," another of the men agreed. "It was obviously a Jigen Swordsman."

            "No not possible," another argued.

            Saito only halfway listened to their conversation while studying the bodies and the way they were cut. It told him all he needed to know about what happened during the battle. "The assassin killed this one first," Saito said pointing at the body on the ground. "Probably before he even knew what happened." He looked up to the stairs were the second body was. "Then he probably swept Soudou's first attack. After that, he ran up the stairs to draw the leader away from the crowd, and then drove his katana into Soudou's gut; injuring, but not killing. As Soudou stumbled backwards the assassin came down from above and stuck whit putting his weight into the swing, Soudou tried to block it but his sword was cut in half from the blow, followed by the collarbone, it was all done in one strike. The second samurai charged in and got off one attack, maybe two, but he became overextended and the assassin cut his spine in half."

            Saito looked over to the tree where Soudou's blade was still imbedded in the tree. The assassin was good, no doubt about that. "If he had received a blow from a Jigen swordsman, he would have just had his sword cut in two."

            "This level is skill is higher," Okita surmised.

            "Yes," Saito agreed. "Far more so. Had I known a swordsman of this caliber was out there; I would have accompanied these men personally. Whoever did this…he is nothing less than a demon in human form."

            It was far into the night as Kenshin stepped into the inn alone. They had been ambushed tonight while out on a mission. But this time instead of an assassin it had been the Shinsen Gumi. Nothing he couldn't handle of course, but disturbing nonetheless. Iizuka had already left to tell Katsura about it and remove what little doubt there was about a traitor within the organization.

            After making his way to the back room he found a bucket of clean water and dampened a cloth that he always carried with him on missions now to wipe away the blood of his scar. As a drop of blood fell from his left cheek Kenshin felt the presence of another enter the room, but didn't turn around.

            It was her, Tomoe, the woman he had found in what seemed like forever ago, but hadn't been that long. She was carrying a towel for him. "You should clean that would before you wash your hands," she told him before handing Kenshin the towel.

            "Why are you still awake?" he asked, not wanting to really strike up a conversation but the curiosity got the better of him.

            "I couldn't seem to get to sleep," she told him. "I never can stay asleep whenever you're away. I always have a strange nightmare." The woman looked back towards the stairs and smirked as if laughing at some unspoken joke.

            "You should not concern yourself with me," Kenshin replied.

            "Tomoe bowed a little as he took the towel then turned away. "Very well, I am sorry for bothering you."

            When the next day came Tomoe found herself walking along the back of the inn along with Sakura. Ever since the first night Tomoe had stayed here the other girl had stuck to her like glue when they were both working. Wherever Tomoe went, Sakura wasn't far behind.

            The one time that Tomoe had asked the girl about it, Sakura had just said that the older woman reminded Sakura of her mother. After that, Tomoe hadn't pressured Sakura for anything else relating to the topic. Now that she thought about her previous experience in this particular field, it made a kind of sense. Sakura didn't seem to have anyone or anything, and was trying to find something stable to cling to in this world. Tomoe didn't have the heart to deny her something like that, and having Sakura around, with her laughter and strange mannerisms, it seemed to take her own pain away a little as well.

            Today, they both had gone down to the flower vendor to pick up replacements for the lilies that had wilted or died. The inn proprietor seemed to pay special attention to her decor and was quick to correct any flaws. However it wasn't as if the Choshu men seemed to care about it at all. Well, they were men after all. 

            The sound of shouting from one of the side rooms stopped them momentarily before they continued. "I wonder what all that was about," Tomoe wondered aloud.

            "From what I heard it sounded like all the killers were just told they had to stop killing for awhile," Sakura replied. "Probably a good idea with that spy around."

            Tomoe blinked a few times at her short, redheaded friend in confusion. "Spy?" she asked causing the girl to blanch. "Sakura, where did you hear something like that?"

            The girl just stood there frozen for a moment before tying to recover. "Well, I…uh…you know…uh…" However it didn't exactly work very well.

            Seeing the girl's hesitation and her refusal to look Tome in the eye, the older woman decided to take a somewhat wild guess. "Sakura, you aren't sleeping with any of the men for information are you?" she asked. Well, it wasn't really that wild of a guess, Sakura almost always came into the room later than Tomoe did herself, and she knew that the younger girl wasn't working at the inn, they both had the same shifts.

            "What?" she said through clenched teeth. "That has got to be the craziest thing I've ever heard! You actually think that I would…" the girl paused then shivered in disgust. "Come on, let's hurry up and get these things to the back before the boss decided we're goofing off and makes us to extra chores."

            As the morning passed into midday Tomoe once again found herself outside Kenshin's room, looking in from the open door. Inside, Kenshin was asleep against a stack of books with his sword propped up next to him. Except for the books his room was barren and empty.

            Trying to be as quiet as she could as not to make him Tomoe slowly made her way across the room with a blue blanket in her hands to wrap around the young man. However her journey was stopped when she felt her foot collide with something small. When she looked down she saw a top, a child's toy.

            She looked up into Kenshin's face as his head nodded back and forth in slumber. _A child…But even a child can commit murder_, she thought while wrapping the blanket around the red haired boy. Her train of thought became derailed as she noticed the slash on his face, the wound Kenshin had been cleaning last night, and the night before that, and every night that he went out to kill. 

            Why was it always bleeding? It didn't seem to be an open wound. Her curiosity getting the better of her Tomoe slowly reached forward to touch the scar, and…

            Feeling a foreign presence near him Kenshin's eyes sprung open and he grabbed his sword to lash out and behead the intruder without even thinking. However a second before his blade connected Kenshin caught the woman's face, Tomoe, the woman he had seen him and the ninja fight in the rain.

            His eyes widened in surprise and Kenshin quickly pushed her down to the mat with his free hand before the sword could connect with her throat. She fell backwards and her hand swung back knocking the stack of books off the table that he used to sleep against.

            After catching his breath from what he almost did Kenshin cleared his thoughts. "I'm sorry," he apologized before behind down to sheath his sword, and noticed a light blue blanket hanging off his left arm.

            "I thought you might need it," Tomoe told him with a sad expression. "It's very cold outside, and you sleep so close to the window."

            "My apologies," Kenshin told her before placing his sword back against what was left of the stack of books and stare to rearrange them back into their previous condition.

            "Have you read all these books?" Tomoe asked as she leaned down and started to help him clean up.

            "No," he replied. "I haven't read any of them. They're comfortable to sleep against, that's all. An assassin needs no books."

            "You know," Tomoe said. "You do not have to do this, for the rest of your life I mean. If you wished, you could stop. No one could go on killing people forever. You could find someplace peaceful, where you wouldn't have to sleep with a sword at your side."

            "I've been doing that since I was a child," Kenshin replied while picking up his toy and looking at it. The only memento he had of his family, not his real family, they had all died of sickness before he was sold into slavery, but the people that had bought him, they had protected him like he was their own. To him, they had been his family, and the toy in his hand was the only thing he had to remember them by. It had been with him on the night that they were slaughtered and it was with him now. "I have seen too many people killed not to be careful."

            "I'm sure that true," Tome said. "But, is this the way to intend to live the rest of your life?"

            "That is the fate that I have been given," Kenshin said. "But I have no intention of living a long one. There is no reason that you should care about it anyway."

            Tomoe tried to respond to his comment but Kenshin cut the woman off by handing her the blanket she had placed on him only moments ago. "Here, I thank you for your kindness. But it is better spent on someone else, nothing you have should ever smell of blood."

            Tomoe simply nodded before standing up also. "I'm sorry, I was rude to speak to you this way. I'll be going now." She bowed her head and took the blanket before turned around and walking out of Kenshin's room, leaving him alone.

            _It's better this way_, he thought as he watched her departing form. _But…_ "Tomoe." Hearing Kenshin call out her name the woman turned around and he nodded his head. "Thank you for the offer."

            It was midday as Hajime Saito stood in a small training room as Okita continually struck a practice dummy hanging from an overhead rope while their informant was going over the latest piece of information that the Shinsen Gumi spies had uncovered.

            "Yosha of the Choshu and Miyabe of the Higo Clan have arrived in Kyoto," he said. "According to the confession we received from the assassin we captured there should be even more Imperialists arriving soon. However the weapons deposit we discovered at Masu-Ya wasn't enough for a large assault, so someone else has to be supplying them. I'll organize an inspection team for tonight.

            "Oh, one more thing. According to Furutaka, they're planning a meeting later this evening."

            "Yes, something is definitely going on," Saito agreed. "The Choshu Clan is definitely up to something."

            Okita stopped in mid swing then looked over to the two men. "Katsura Kogoro is the leader of the Choshu clan right?"

            "Yes, that's right," Saito confirmed.

            "If you'll excuse me, I'll need to go prepare for tonight," the informant said before turning around and leaving the two Shinsen Gumi members alone in their thoughts.

            "Sir?" Okita asked. "Just how much assistance can we expect from Master Hijikata?"

            "I'm not sure," Saito confessed. "But for a situation such as this, he's willing to use the Shinsen Gumi."

            "Do you think the assassin will be at tonight's meeting?" the boy asked.

            "Doubtful," Saito told him. "People like assassins are usually kept far from the inner workings of the clan." He looked down at the boy. "Tell me something, if he were at this meeting, what would you do?"

            Okita looked back up and smirked. "I would do as I was trained to do Master Saito. What would you do Master?"

            "A stupid question."

            Looking around the crowd he saw no one out of place. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to eavesdrop even if they were following him anyway. Kenshin then quickened his pace to catch up to Iizuka. "So what did the message from Miyabe say?"

            "It instructed us to get all of out loved ones out of Kyoto before nightfall," the other assassin told him.

            "So then Miyabe still plans to go through with this then?"

            "Yes."

            "So what are we to do then?" Kenshin asked.

            "We'll just wait until Katsura tells us to take action," he said. "You know, Tomoe could be in danger if she stays here."

            "So what?" Kenshin asked. "She came here on her own, and she can get out on her own."

            Iizuka smirked then shook his head. "And I thought you were in love. You rescued her once, so why not do it again? Well, I've got things that need my attention elsewhere, see you later tonight." He turned down a corner while Kenshin walked on ahead, lost in his own thoughts.

            The sun had long since set as Ranma made her way through the streets of Kyoto as fast as she could in her damned kimono. Earlier tonight Tomoe had asked Kenshin to take her out on a date and he agreed. However keeping a watch for her friend wasn't what Ranma was doing right now. For the entire day Ranma had been getting this weird feeling in the back of her head, like her danger sense was being set off but only as a faint buzz and not a full blown alarm.

            Now that she was in the streets she could see why she felt so nervous. About one out of every four people had far more ki than the average person was all around the city. Something big was about to go down tonight, she needed to see Katsura and find out what the heck was going on.

            Saito sat in the crowed of his fellow Shinsen Gumi members as the orders were being dispatched.

            "Okita, Heisuke, and Tohdoh will accompany the captain," the man at the front said. "The rest will come with me." She looked back over to the man standing in the front of the room. "Sir Hondo?"

            "We must thoroughly search every inch of the Kawara district tonight," the large man said. "We are engaged in battle now, and our foe must be dead or enchained by sunrise, and we shall pay dearly for any man we overlook. Now, rise up, and fight!"

            Kenshin sat on the other side of the table from Tomoe. He had to admit, he was enjoying himself. Even the taste of the sake was better than it had been in months. Tomoe seemed to think the exact opposite it seemed, but only because she had confessed that she had been using sake to feel better about herself. Now, she just didn't need it.

            "Your wound seems to have stopped bleeding," she said after a short pause.

            "I haven't thought about it in days," Kenshin replied.

            "You know, when I think about it," Tomoe mused. "I think about the strangest things. I think, what it must have been like for the last man that you had killed. You say that you kill people to make other people happy, but…I can see that it doesn't bring you much happiness"

            "People die every day," Kenshin told her. "I don't choose my targets at random."

            "No, you don't choose your victims at all," she replied. "You hope that you are killing men that deserve to die. But you've entrusted that decision on others."

            "Knowing more about the people who I kill would disrupt my concentration," Kenshin said. "They die for a reason. I kill them to make a better world. That's all I need to know."

            The conversation was cut short as Kenshin recognized the shape of Iizuka running in the street just before the door opened and he stepped in panting. "Kenshin, we've got to go, we're all in danger!" Kenshin only nodded before taking Tomoe's hand and following the man into the outside while he continued the explanation. "Later tonight Miyabe and his clan plan to burn Kyoto to the ground. Katsura's tried to talk them out of it but Miyabe has cut all ties with Katsura it seems."

            "What? That's insane," Kenshin said while pulling Tomoe through the crowds.

            "Oh that's not the end of it," Iizuka continued. "They're planning on grabbing the Emperor and them moving him to Hagi. After that they'll control the government from there. Worst of all it seems the Shinsen Gumi found out, and we're being forced into battle prematurely. You have to get to the meeting to warn everyone while I go rally the men."

            "Where is the meeting being held?" Kenshin shouted.

            "Sanjo Kawara's place, in Ikeda-Ya," Iizuka replied before heading off down the street as fast as he could go.

            Okita kicked down the door to the Kawara estate with his sword drawn before heading to the stairs. A man with a sword rounded the corner and demanded Okita identify himself. He was a tall him with short brown hair and a clean face, not the one Okita was killing for.

            The young member of the Shinsen Gumi didn't bother with a response before driving his sword through the guard's heart with a Hiritzukie and continuing on. _It's not him, not the one I'm looking for._ He tossed the body down the stairs to where the other men were waiting before going further up.

            Kenshin led Tomoe down the street as fast as he could go, he didn't want to hurt her but at the same time he needed to hurry and get to the meeting. However their rush was cut short when a group of men with their hair in topknots and wearing green cloaks with a jagged white outline stepped around the corner. All of them were Shinsen Gumi.

            "There he is!"

            "That's the one, he's the assassin!"

            Kenshin pushed Tomoe back before reaching for his sword. "Go back the way we came. Quickly," he told her.

            "No," she said before reaching forward and holding his hand for a moment. "no, Katsura told me that I am your sheath, I must stand by your side."

            Kenshin frowned in confusion, now was not the time for something like this. "What are you talking about?"

            "I want to see," she said. "I want to see the real you, the one who kills. I want to see you with my own eyes."

            Kenshin didn't bother with a reply as the first samurai charged him and he pushed Tomoe back out of the way while grabbing his sword. Well, if the girl wanted to die that was her own problem but he had work to do right now. Kenshin blocked the first man's attack with his own battoujitsu strike and then swung again killing him before moving on the next one and knocking him to the ground before the man rolled out of range of his sword.

            "Chain vests?" Kenshin asked. "Armor won't save you! You're in my way, lay down your arms OR DIE!"

            "We are the Shigesuke Heima, we are trained in the technique of Hokushin Ittio-Ryu," the leader shouted.

            "YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" With his battle cry Kenshin moved on the six men in front of him. The first was able the block his first attack, but that was the only time anything came between Kenshin's sword and its target.

            "Katsura," Ranma shouted as she ran through his house looking for the man. She had made a quick change into her fighting clothes in the basement before running to look for the man. Now, instead of that damn kimono she was dressed in a loose fitting Chinese shirt and pants along with the shoes she had come to this time with. The shirt wasn't silk like her original one and was black instead of red but Ranma didn't feel very picky at this moment. She also had a pair of metal bracers wrapped around her arms, after seeing that everyone here played for keeps during a fight Ranma had thought it best to be able to block without losing an arm in the process.

            "Katsura, damnit where are you?" Ranma shouted again after making her way up the stairs in leaps and bounds to see both Katsura and Katagai standing at a door near the top of the stairs. Katsura had his katana in his hands and Katagai had one as well.

            "Good you're here," Katsura said. "Sakura, there's been a complication."

            "Gee what was your first clue?" Ranma asked. "The burning rooftops or the fact that the streets are crawling with Shinsen Gumi?" Katagai frowned at Ranma's matter but both she and Katagai paid it no mind.

            "For once I don't have time to humor your manners," he said before reaching into his robe then tossing Ranma a small scroll with his own seal. "I received that two days ago. Within that scroll is half of our agreement pertaining to the Musk Village in China. Do this last job for me, and when we meet again I'll fulfill the other half of our bargain."

            "Must be something pretty important if you want it this badly your willing to give me up just like that," Ranma replied. "I thought you were going to hold out on me until the end of the war."

            "It is," Katsura told her. "You are to escort my consort out of the city, and make sure that she is unharmed. Do this, and you can have the location of the man you want along with his family name, plus anything else. Deal?"

            Ranma nodded in agreement. "Agreed."

            It was half an hour later that Ranma met Ikumatsu at the front door. Katsura and a very confused Katagai had left earlier to meet with the rest of the Choshu men while Ranma waited behind for Ikumatsu to change out of her kimono into something more fit for traveling.

            When she finally came down her hair was out of the pins that she was using to hold in a bun and her makeup had been fully removed. She was still wearing a kimono but this one was completely plain, unlike the flowery one that she had on a few moments ago. She took one long look and nodded. "Now I remember where I've seen you before," she said. "You were that girl that my husband had taken in a few months ago. Why are you escorting me?"

            "When Katsura met me I saved him from some local thieves," Ranma explained while looking out the window. "After that he took me in, as repayment I became one of his manslayers. He also arranged a few other things. This," she said holding up the map, "is one of them."

            "Katsura's house is this way, hurry now," a shout came from outside in the streets.

            _Damn, couldn't the woman have taken a little less time to do her damn hair?_ Ranma thought. She tossed the scroll back to Ikumatsu and looked at the woman. "We've got trouble, four or five men are coming this way. Hold that for me, and run while I distract them. I'll meet you on the north rode, the same place where your husband is supposed to meet up with you. Just let me take care of a few of these men first."

            Ikumatsu nodded then stepped away from the door while Ranma went outside to greet the guests. There were three of them, all older than Ranma by at least ten years, and all Shinsen Gumi. "Sorry, but if you're looking for Katsura then I'm afraid you just missed him. Now go away."

            "We are the Shinsen Gumi," the leader spoke. "Now out of our way little girl."

            Ranma frowned at the little girl comment. "Make me."

            The man in front snarled and charged at Ranma in a forward thrusting technique she wasn't familiar with. Ranma strafed to the left to avoid the attack wile reaching up with her left arm and grabbing his sword hand while elbowing the fighter in the nose then quickly drawing her hand back and lashing out with a Yama-Sen-Ken technique to punch through his armor and chest to get at the heart. His body went limp and fell out of Ranma's grasp before she motioned the next fighter.

            "Well come on, I don't have all day you know," she said.

            The second and third attacked as one, Ranma quickly ducked under both their strikes then hopped to the left and sweep kicked the closest one legs out from under him then jumped over the grounded man and landed on the head of the one who was still standing in a handstand before using her momentum to twist around and rotate the Shinsen Gumi soldier's head one hundred and eighty degrees, she then flipped down while grabbing the man's sword and jabbed it into the fighter who was still on the ground, killing him.

            "Ok come on let's go," Ranma shouted to the woman in the house as she ran out and to Ranma's side. She was about to take the woman up in her arms and make her way across the rooftops when she felt another battle aura getting closer, this one was much larger than the previous three. "Damn, you go on ahead, I'll catch up to you in a little while."

            "Very well," Ikamatsu said as she nodded and quickly made her way down the street just before the forth ki came into view.

            He was tall for a Japanese man, and unlike the three fighters before he didn't wear his hair in a topknot, this guy had a full head of it. However he was a member of the Shinsen Gumi, he wore their colors and the headband. As he came into sight Ranma made no move to hide her blood soaked hand, actually she held it up in front of her and shook it to try and stop the damn thing from dripping.

            "Well now, what have we here," the man asked when he got close enough to Ranma to talk. Right off she could see this guy was definitely different from the others. It was his eyes, they seemed to glow a pale golden, and he already had someone else's blood on him from a previous battle. "I was informed to look out for an assassin with red hair, but no one said anything about it being a woman."

            "Sorry to disappoint you," Ranma replied as she shifted into a combat stance. "Actually the guy you're looking for is the Battousai. I'm a whole different kind of murderer…I'm better."

            "Is that so?" he asked before taking a strange stance. It was somewhat similar to what the other men had used, but he only held his sword with his left hand and it was further back. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "My name is Hajime Saito, and man or woman, I will show you no mercy." With that he charged at Ranma with lighting fast speed, far beyond what those goons had used.

            Ranma gritted her teeth and she weaved to the side I time to avoid being skewered, but didn't have time to counterattack as Saito swung his sword around in a side sweeping attack causing her to bring her armbands up in defense and let the blow knock her back. She flipped in the air to do a quick cartwheel and land on her feet a good six meters away from Saito.

            _Damnit, I don't have time for this_, Ranma thought. Cupping her hands in front of her before Saito could prepare another one of his charging attacks Ranma concentrated on her dreams for the past few months before she met Tomoe. All the pain, the rejection, the knowledge that she was a murderer, it all built up, and she let it out. "Shi Shi Hokodan!"

            The ki blast of depression flew forward and instead of knocking Saito into a wall or something, he charged forward and jumped at the last second with his sword in a downward strike. "Gatotsu Second Style!" Ranma barely overcame her surprise of his reaction, or lack thereof, in time to jump back into the air and avoid being skewered.

            As soon as he landed Saito didn't waste any time in readjusting his attack then striking upward. "Gatotsu Third Style!" This time however it seemed he finally caught the red haired girl. Ranma twisted out of the way of the swing but Saito swung his sword around like he did with his first attack clipping Ranma across the chest, right below her breasts.

            They both landed on the ground and turned to face each other. The wound itself wasn't anything to worry about, easily healed in a few hours or so, but having her shirt and chest bindings cut like that was annoying as hell. "Not bad," Saito commented before going back into his Gatotsu stance. "I've heard rumors of people who could focus their ki into a weapon but this is the first time that I've actually seen it done."

            "Well then here's another one for you," Ranma said before throwing her hands out in front of her. The girl let another Shi Shi Hokodan loose at Saito, but this time when he jumped over it in another Gatotsu attack Ranma ran under him and pushed her ki down to it's smallest level of the Umi-Sen-Ken before snatching a cloak off from one of the Shinsen Gumi members and jumping up to Katsura's roof and wrapping herself in the invisibility technique.

            Back down on the street Saito looked around for a moment at the direction Ranma had gone then headed into the house. With her opponent temporarily gone, Ranma made her way across the rooftops of Kyoto and towards the direction that Katsura's wife had run off to.

            Kenshin knocked down the door to the inn and looked around only to find the landlady standing there with a bundle of food and an umbrella. "Where is Katsura," Kenshin demanded. "Is he here?"

            "No," she said. "I heard about what's going on, it's too dangerous for you two to be here." she handed him the umbrella and food. "Hurry and escape through the back entrance."

            Tomoe was held up a moment as the landlady said her farewells to the woman before they both exited through the back and ran across the garden. He handed Tomoe the umbrella and supplies then kicked open the door while looking out with his hand on his sword.

            "Kenshin!"

            The sound of his voice made the young man look over to the alley to see Katsura standing there with his sword. The assassin sighed a bit in relief. ""Katsura, you're alive!"

            "Yes," he replied. "I am alive, but my dreams are dead. Soldiers from the Kyoto Shoshidai have laid waste to the Choshu camp. We've lost everything. You two must get out of Kyoto immediately. I'll have someone prepare a safe house for you in Otsu. You will both live there as husband and wife."

            Both Kenshin and Tomoe gasped at the news. "The Sogunate will be looking of an assassin, not a happily married man. Iizuka will help me keep in contact with you. Wait there for word of me. Be careful, I'll see you soon." He walked down the path a little, then looked at the woman behind Kenshin. "I thank you Tomoe."

            "We should go," Kenshin said after watching Katsura enter the inn. 

            As the sun rose in the distance Ranma leaned against the wall of the small rest stop that Katsura had arranged to meet her at. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Ikamatsu lay asleep on one of the tables. The owner of the place had been quite loud in his protests about letting the woman sleep here but Ranma had shut him up with a harsh glare.

            Hearing the sound of footsteps Ranma backed away from the wall and walked over towards the table where the woman was sleeping. It might had been refugees but there was no sense taking chances. Needless to say she was relieved when Katsura came around the corner.

            "Is she alright?" he asked.

            "She's fine, just a little hungry and tired," Ranma replied before walking away from the two of them. "Do you have the other half of our deal?"

            "There's been a…complication," Katsura said.

            Ranma frowned at the man. "Explain."

            "The person I had in charge of finding that piece of information has been captured by the Shogunate," Katsura explained. "If you want that piece of information, then I'm afraid you'll have to rescue him from their grip. But I suppose that shouldn't be a problem for you. His name is Takasugi and he is being held at the imperial castle in Edo."

            Ranma clenched her fists and glared at Katsura before walking over to grab the scroll with the map on it. "I see," Ranma said before draping herself in her newly acquired cloak. "In that case I would suggest you find a way to break him out before I return from China…" She ripped off the seal and looked at the map, it looked authentic enough, even had the location to the Amazon village, and Jusenkyo as well, and another place hadn't heard of called Phoenix Mountain.  "Or, I will kill you for double crossing me."

            With that she pulled the hood up on her cloak and vanished into the morning sun.

Next Time on Ranma ½: A Horseshoe Nail__


	6. Chapter 5

See 1st Chapter for disclaimer

AN About Ranma's problem with killing: Some of you are probably saying by now "well if Ranma's been killing people for months then he should be used to it by now" right? Well, I got to say that little theory is wrong, mainly because Ranma is not a monster, he has a conscience. Kenshin kills people but he's doing it for a higher purpose, Hiko (Kenshin's master) deals with it by giving his victims a proper burial, and Saito just follows his principle of 'Slay Evil Immediately' and thus believes the people he kills deserves to die. Every one of these people has a special way of dealing with murdering people, Ranma doesn't. He only pushes aside his emotions for a short time to he can kill people, but that doesn't mean he knows how to deal with it afterwards; hence the nightmares. He also knows that the reason he's doing this is completely for himself, he doesn't really care about the revolution or anything else like that, and deep down, he knows what he's doing is wrong, and instead of dealing with it, Ranma just finds something to push it to the side.

Chapter 5: A Horseshoe Nail

            Ranma looked down at the unconscious form of Happosai and then the mirror she held in her hand. She had to admit, the pervert was right where her master said he'd be. Maybe there was something more to this Fung Shui stuff than just new ways to channel ki.

            She remembered how she met Moruki Mizu, it was shortly after her first attempt to retrieve the teakettle from the Musk. Ranma had wrapped herself in the Umi-Sen-Ken and strolled right in. However there were a few things she didn't count on, the fact that the Musk tribe was _much_ more populated than they had been in Ranma's time, and the fact that even though they couldn't see Ranma, they could still smell her.

-Somewhere in the Mountains of China-

            Ranma groaned in aggravation as she trudged through the barely traversable mountain path. She had finally lost her group of pursuers by jumping down a waterfall, although her legs and ribs weren't in good shape from the impact. Damn Musk and their damn wolf men, they were like a pack of bloodhounds.

            Now, Ranma had lost her map, was bleeding from various cuts, and was walking with a limp. Worst of all was the fact that now she had no idea where she was and how to get back and retrieve the Kaisufuu. She just had to get it, returning to her own time was meaningless if she couldn't turn back into a man. If she had to spend just one more month as a woman she was going to go crazy!

            As Ranma continued down the path the sound of a camp fire and the smell of food drew her attention towards a small patch of trees that wasn't too far away. She was about to just forget about the whole thing and continue on but her stomach lodged it's protest and the rest of the body sided with it. Well, if she couldn't get any food then at least Ranma could grab a branch from one of the nearby trees to use as a makeshift walking staff.

            When she walked past the small line of trees Ranma could see a man in traditional Japanese robes watching a fire with  two small rabbits roasting over the flames. Even in the dark light she could see his features were Japanese, so what in the heck was he doing so deep in China?

            The red haired girl stood there for a moment watching the man but when he didn't seem to notice her presence Ranma decided to maker herself known. "Hey there, you awake?"

            "Yes," the stranger replied. "Come sit, dinner is almost ready, and I believe I could use some company."

            Ranma just shrugged and walked over to the old man before they both started eating, she never was one to pass up on a free meal. As the night wore on Ranma asked who the old man was and what he was doing in China when he was obviously Japanese.

            The man in return told him that his name was Moruki Mizu, and he was here because of the war in Japan. Some of his family had decided to get involved in the revolution, but he wanted no part of the war and came to back to China to improve upon his studies. He studied Fung Shui, it was some weird version of Chinese fortune telling. Personally Ranma thought that fortune telling was all just a load of crap.

            That is until it was time for Ranma to take her leave.

            She bowed her head and then stood up and started to walk off. "So, the wild horse goes off chasing the hot water that the dragon holds again, is that it?"

-End Flashback-

            Ranma shook her head at the memory before waiting for the pot of water over the fire to heat up. When she asked how the heck the old geezer could have known something like that, he gave a more in depth explanation of his 'fortune telling' techniques.

            Fung Shui was actually an advanced ki detection technique that read the flow of life energy of the three major things in the universe: the chi of heaven, the chi of earth, and the chi of man. Once all three were read and combined a pattern could be seen and paint a picture of the future. Some of the greatest of the Fung Shui masters could even influence that pattern according to their own designs.

            It turned out that Moruki had been in the mountains for the past three weeks hoping to meet with Ranma, who seemed to be at the center of his latest prediction. When she asked why he said that his 'vision' of the future currently took three paths, the first ended in Japan being consumed by a devil, the second ended in China being burnt to the ground, and the third was an unknown. He had decided to influence the events of the future towards the unknown path, since the first two ended in the deaths of millions.

            So, Ranma decided to sit down, and tell him just why she was after the Kaisufuu, leaving out the whole time traveling part. When she mention her failure she just said that she would have to train and get faster for next time. 

            When she had finished talking to the old man he merely nodded his head in understanding and then said that it was a good thing that he ran into Ranma, and quickly explained why. When the Kaisufuu locks someone in whatever form they're in, it does so by completely stopping the cells from changing in any way, it kind of freezes them in time from the moment they're hit with the stuff. In other words, from the day they're splashed they can't improve their physical attributes, hence why Ranma's hair didn't seem to grow since she arrived in the past.

            After that Ranma stayed with Moruki while waiting for her injuries to heal and making sure no one found her out. The next day Ranma had come to a decision, if she couldn't improve her body then she would have to improve her fighting style. So, she decided to stay with Moruki for the next few months, learning his version of Feng Shui.

            She never did learn enough to actually predict anything, but the meditation techniques helped Ranma with her nightmares that had resurfaced after she had left Tomoe in Japan. She still felt an incredible amount of regret that tore at her daily, but she could at least get through a night without waking up in a cold sweat.

            When spring was about to pass into winter, Ranma made another try for the Kaisufuu. This time she was able to get away with the Musk's precious magical item that unlocked the effects of the Chisuittion, but only barely. That night she finally was able to sleep as a man again, that is until it started raining cutting her full night as a man down to just a few hours. But, Ranma didn't care, he had finally been able to cure himself of a problem that had lasted him over a year.

            With his cure in hand Ranma went back to a small hut where his sensei in Fung Shui to tell him the good news and thank the old man, if it wasn't for his advanced ki reading techniques then Ranma would never had been able to sneak through the Musk's defenses.

            Moruki had already known Ranma was coming of course, and had something for him. The location of Happosai, or where he would be in two weeks.

            So that brought him back to the present. Defeating the old man had been easy enough, once she flashed him that is. Now, she had that blasted time traveling mirror, and was about to use it to drop off the Kaisufuu back at its mountain hideaway. It was a little funny when she thought about it, the whole reason Herb even came to Japan and turned Ranma into a girl was because Ranma had stolen the magic kettle from his family over a hundred years ago.

            It was too bad she couldn't just get rid of the pervert right then and there. But without him to train Genma, Ranma wouldn't have the skill level needed to survive half of the crap she did, or may not have even existed at all. Now that was quite the scary thought. The pervert was actually useful for something.

            Seeing the water was ready Ranma reached down and tossed it over herself, letting the transformation take place before he put his hair back in its old pigtail. It felt kind of fitting, doing this one last thing while looking exactly like the way he had gone out as.

            See, the way Ranma figured it, as it was he couldn't just return to his present like nothing had really changed. During his past year he had changed too much, seen too many things, and…he had killed. He hated to admit it to himself, but getting back his manhood didn't justify all the lives that he had taken.

            So, Ranma's plan was a simple one, although it had taken weeks to plan out. He would teleport about twenty years into the future to drop off the Kaisufuu after the Musk had given up looking for it, then head back here with the mirror, and finally make one last jump back to the outskirts of Tokyo a night before he left in the original timeline. That way, he could stop Happosai before he ever even had a chance to get close to Ranma, and prevent this entire mess from happening.

            All in all, it sounded like a pretty good plan. He just hoped that the Kaisufuu wasn't affected by the change, or if it were he hoped someone would steal it later and hide it in the cave for Ranma to find it. The first part of the plan went off without a hitch of course, no one was around and after placing the Kaisufuu where it looked like it should go he called up the more…darker memories of the past year and cried a tear into the mirror then transported back to Happosai's unconscious form two seconds after he left.

            When he reappeared next to the old freak Ranma took one last look at the man and remembered all the pain that he had caused before shedding another tear. As the glow of the mirror's magic surrounded him, Ranma tossed the mirror on top of the old freak's body then vanished without a trace.

            A cloaked figure stood at a desolate wasteland, the only things around for miles were the small stone obelisks, each one giving a name, date of birth, and date of death. However since this grave field was here to commemorate what was known as the 'Tokyo Massacre' all of the death dates were the same.

            Then, a moment later a burst of ki erupted from the ground and there was one less gravesite, and one very terrified and nervous martial artist in a red silk Chinese shirt.

            When Ranma had appeared in what was _supposed_ to be his present. However in the end he ended up…well he wasn't quite sure were since it was too dark to see anything. So, he did what any super human martial artist would to in his position of being cramped in what felt like a small box and running out of air.

            He flared his ki and fired it upwards.

            Coughing the smoke from the blast Ranma waved the dust away from his face as he stepped out of the hole in the ground. What the heck was that old freak doing? Sleeping underground?

            "Well, it's about time you got here," a deep voice said in front of Ranma. "Quite frankly I expected you here sooner…I guess my watch must be a little fast."

            Finally getting the taste of dirt out of his mouth Ranma looked up in front of him to see a man covered by a dirt brown cloak that was little more than a rag. It hid his face but the rest of his body was covered by some weird bright yellow suit.

            Of course in his current position Ranma did the only thing he could. He stared blankly and blinked a few times before finally finding words to speak. "Uh…huh?" He looked around for a moment, but nothing around him looked familiar. It was just a bunch of stupid looking black markers sticking out of the ground. 

            Finally, he turned back to the man standing in front of him. "Excuse me, but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

            The stranger stood there for a moment before reaching up to his mouth as if coughing but he couldn't touch his face for the mask that was covering his face. However the movement did let Ranma see under the hood of his suit, but everything was completely covered by the suit the stranger was wearing.

            "Well that's better," he replied. "Now then, I'm betting you're wondering what you're doing here and just who I am, correct?"

            "For starters," Ranma said as he popped his knuckles.

            "Why Ranma, you're just where you wanted to be," he told the boy. "One day before the date you were tossed back through time by Happosai, and right were Happosai was today."

            "Funny," Ranma told him in a voice that held no humor. "I don't seem to remember anything like this in Japan. And just who are you?"

            "Me?" The stranger asked. "Why, I'm a time traveler same as you. And you are right where you wanted to be Ranma. You appeared right next to Happosai, or what was left of him anyway. You see, Happosai died along with all these other people and most of the others in Japan as well as the world during the Third World War that happened about…I believe it was ten years ago today."

            "Excuse me?" Ranma asked a little skeptical.

            "Do you want a better explanation?" he replied. "Well I'm afraid that I can't give you a very good one, just a few minor details. From what I can figure the time when w-you traveled back in time to the Meji revolution, you changed something. Quite frankly I don't know what it was, I'm not exactly a big student of history but this is the result." The man held up his hands and motioned to the graveyard around him. "Because of your interference, in the year 1982 the emperor of Japan finally stockpiled enough chemical weapons and launched them against China in a plot to gain power. However because of this China and its allies retaliated. Eventual war broke out between the countries, and as China began to loose badly then more western nations took up arms, spreading the battles all across Asia and parts of Europe. In the end the western nations decided to try and put an end to it by destroying the capital city of Japan and thus eliminate the emperor, which was Kyoto at the time. But that only seemed to infuriate the Japanese, and in the end the entire island of Shikoku was rendered uninhabitable and the Chinese government annexed the two other islands of Japan."

            "Excuse me but there's a few holes in your story," Ranma said. "Like the fact that Japan's Emperor holds no real political power, and hasn't after World War Two. Besides, what the hell does that have to do with me?"

            "Like I said," the stranger replied. "I can't give you a very good one, and that was just pieced together from some of the people that I met during my travels across China. As you might guess, a chemical holocaust does wonders for the population's school system. Ninety percent of the contrary isn't even inhabitable and the small bit that is, is up in the northern regions that have snow falling almost all the time. But my guess is that Japan didn't join in World War Two, or they picked the winning side this time around.

            "Something must of happened when you went back to alter history to this point. That's the only explanation."

            Ranma simply scowled at the man for a moment. "Hey, wait a second," he finally said. "If you're supposed to be another time traveler or something, then how come you're not responsible for all this crap?"

            The man was silent making Ranma scowl in anger. Finally, when Ranma was about to demand an answer out of him the stranger held up two fingers. "Two reasons," he told Ranma. "One, it is the fact that I came from the future, twenty years to be precise. And I came from the original timeline, you know, the one where the Tendo Dojo isn't a hole in the ground, the one where you fell into the spring of drowned girl, the one where you got engaged to Akane, and Ukyo, and had Shampoo and that nut case Kodachi chasing after you, the one where Nabiki constantly swindles you out of your money."

            "You seem to know a hell of a lot about me," Ranma said.

            "Let's just say you're the most interesting person that I've known in my entire life," Ranma didn't know why, but he was pretty sure the man in front of him was smirking underneath his suit.

            Something just didn't seem right about this to Ranma, he was missing something. He looked over to the graves laid out in front of him. Was he really responsible for this? How could he be? Ok well the assassinations, but that couldn't of caused something like this, could it? If it were true then…instead of undoing the damage to the people's lives, he'd caused millions more.

            "Ok," Ranma finally said pushing that ghastly thought aside. "Just for the hell of it let's say I am responsible for this. What the hell did I do then? All the targets I got would have been handed over to Kenshin anyway, and something tells me that it wouldn't have made a difference. So, what exactly happened to make…this," Ranma said while gesturing to the graves.

            "No idea," the man in the radiation suit told him. "But you _must _correct it."

            "WHAT?" Ranma shouted. "Just how the hell am I supposed to do that if you wont tell me what the problem is? Was it somebody I killed back during the revolution? And just how the hell do you expect me to do that anyway? Time travel isn't exactly easy to come by you know! And while we're on the subject, if I was supposed to alter history then how the hell am I here and not dead or in the place where the counter me is?"

            The masked man shook his head. "The reason you weren't effected is simple. Think of time as a lake, calm and still. A time traveler is like a stone being dropped in, the effects ripple outward affecting everything, but since the traveler, or you, were at the point of impact the wave never touched you. As for why you must correct it, it because _you_ caused it! And only you can make changes to counter the effects. Oh, and here." the man reached behind his back and pulled out an object wrapped in cloth then tossed it to Ranma.

            He reached out and caught the thing then unwrapped it to reveal the Niban Mirror. "Ok then smart guy, just where exactly am I supposed to go then?" Ranma demanded.

            "That I can help you with," the man said. "Head to Osaka, three months and two weeks after you found Happosai in China. When you get there destroy the mirror, and make sure to stay away from it this time. I'm sorry but that's all I can tell you."

            "Yeah, yeah," Ranma mumbled. He stood there looking at the mirror for a moment, how the heck did this guy know where this was anyway? Well, Ranma really was never one to ask questions, he just got the job done. Forcing himself to cry one more time, he waited as the light enveloped him and he vanished back into the stream of time.

            As the man watched Ranma leave he held up his hand to cough again then finally removed the radiation suit to spit out the blood in his throat. Most of his hair was gone now thanks to the radiation poisoning, and the suit was useless since he was going to anyway. The only reason he had survived for the past ten years was thanks to his intense physical conditioning and insane luck of living in one of the lesser-irradiated zones.

            Spitting out the blood the man looked back up where the boy had disappeared. Ten years, it had taken him ten years and every bit of his knowledge to track down that mirror so he could return to this day. To correct the mistake that he had never even known he made.

            The man walked through the graves looking for the one that he needed to find. He was pretty sure she was here, if Tokyo was bombed in 1985 then she would have been born by then, and her father was still probably too damn stubborn to move.

            As he walked down the rows of obelisks, he wondered just what did happen during that trip into the past. Was there some monumental change that Ranma inflicted? Or was it a minor one that had huge repercussions in the end? Knowing Ranma, it was probably both.

            The man remembered a story he had once heard after arriving on this world, he was in Europe, in one of the countries not touched by the conflicted. It kind of reminded him of his present situation.

            A long time ago, there were two warring houses going for the control of England. One was the House of Tudor, symbolized by a red rose, and the other house was symbolized by a white rose, the man couldn't remember their name, just the point of the story.  

            Anyway, when the Tudor house prepared to invade the king of England's main city and he needed to lead his army out to defend it, he needed to send his horse out to be shoed. The blacksmith they took it to ran out of nails for the horseshoes on the horses last hoof, but because of time the men sent by the king didn't wait for him to make more. So, when the kind went into battle, his horse only had three nails holding his horse's shoe down instead of four. Midway through the battle, the horseshoe came off, and the king's horse stumbled, fell down, and broke its neck. Then as the battle continued the invaders started to win and the king tried to rally his people but without his horse, he couldn't get their attention. So the king lost his horse, and then the battle, then his kingdom, and finally his life…all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

            Finally, he came to the grave he was looking for, the one for Akane Tendo.

            Ranma sat down and used another grave for support before coughing out some more blood. "Hey there tomboy," he muttered. "Well, maybe I shouldn't call you that since I didn't even know you in this timeline. Hell, you could of been a prim and proper lady for all I know."

            He tried to imagine her in a dress then laugh a little and shook his head. "Well Akane, I guess I really blew it this time. Ranma Saotome: the man responsible for the end of the world! Don't worry though, I'm sure he can fix everything…I would have gone myself but I just can't seem to move like I used to. Hell, it's taking everything I got just to stay standing right now."

            Another cough of blood stopped Ranma from talking. He spit out the red liquid from his mouth and looked back to the grave. "Ten years, it took me ten years of searching with everything I had to find that damn mirror again, at least Happosai wasn't sealed up in a cave this time around. I wonder what caused that little change?

            "Man, I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid. Well, if he does set every thing and comes back to you, just try and bash him a little extra harder for me ok?" Ranma asked.

            His vision started to blur again, it had been doing that a lot this past week, now matter how much her concentrated on regenerating his eyes. Well, not like it matter anymore anyway. Taking in one more breath of the not so sweet air that permeated the place, Ranma looked up at the sky and let go of the delicate thread of life that he had been holding to the past ten years.

            _Stupid kid, we made this mess, now he better fix it_.

            Ranma walked down the streets of Osaka with her old white cloak draped over he shoulders, not bothering to hide herself with Umi-Sen-Ken.

            After she had arrived in this city Ranma wandered around a bit, wondering what he should do, or make that she after Ranma got splashed by some cold water. That's when she ran into Katsura again, they had both been surprised about the encounter to say the least. He also had another man with him, according to Katsura he was some new manslayer that he had picked up to replace Kenshin to take over assassinations in Himura's place.

            After heading into a bar to talk privately Ranma agreed to pick up where she left off, especially when she heard about the target. It turned out that Iizuka guy from the inn was the spy that she had been sent after originally, Ranma just agreed to finish the job she had started a year ago. When she was done they had arranged to meet in Kyoto, Katsura had some other business that needed to be handled in a small nearby town.

            So, here she was, back in the role of a murderer again. But this time she had a purpose. First, the revolution had to be completed, Ranma wasn't big on history but she knew that the Imperialists were the victors. After that, well…she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

            Rounding a corner she finally came upon her target. Iizuka didn't look like he changed much in the past year. He still had the wild, short ponytail and the damn mustache. Well, she might as well hurry up and get this over with.

            "Hello Iizuka," she said while moving up behind him and causing the other man to stop. "Wanting to run off on us now? I thought traitors would have at least had enough sense to stick around under the protection of the people they decided to sell out to."

            The man turned around slowly and placed his hand on his sword then pulled it out of the sheath. "Well now if it isn't the little tramp from the inn," he said. "I think I have time for a quick roll around before my ship to China leaves."

            "China huh?" Ranma replied. "Actually I know a much better place for you to head off to, it's called Hell. Let me show you what it looks like."

            Deep within the mountains of Japan, a small cottage stood only a few miles away from the small village of Otsu. Within this house, Kenshin Himura sat, looking at the body of his dead wife. His wife, he didn't deserve to call her that, but that's what Tomoe was to him in his heart. He remembered the night when they shared each other's embrace by the fire, and she had asked him to be his husband for real.

            He had been so happy. But he didn't deserve that happiness.

            Kenshin slowly reached up and touched the scar on his left cheek that formed a cross. The first cut he had received was from Tomoe's fiancée more than a year ago in Kyoto, and the second slash he received only yesterday, it was the one Tomoe had given him to remember her by as she lay dying in his arms.

            Damnit, why did things have to turn out this way? He had been so happy living a peaceful life, he hadn't hurt anyone after he came here. Now, the love of his life was dead, and everything around him felt so cold and empty.

            As Kenshin felt someone enter the house he didn't bother looking up. "Hello Katsura, it's been a long time. What do you want?"

            "Kenshin, I'm sorry for you loss," he said before stepping into the house. "You should know, I found the real spy, and I have recruited a new assassin. He will be handling assignations from now on. But, we still require your skills. The Shinsen Gumi and the Bakufu are getting stronger. They're killing more Imperialists every day, and we're desperate."

            "I see," Kenshin replied.

            Their was a brief silence between the men as Katsura sat down and turned away from the manslayer. "Kenshin…I was worried about your life as an assassin, I thought it would destroy your inherent humanity. I was the one who asked Tomoe to become your sheath, to keep you from becoming an unrepentant killer."

            "A sheath?" he asked.

            "Yes…if my good intentions led to this tragedy, I apologize."

            "Katsura?" Kenshin waited till the other man turned his head towards the assassin before he continued. "I will lend you my skills. Tomoe was destroyed by the Shogunate, they used her emotions to control her…I will make them pay for that."

            "I see," Katsura replied.

            "However, once this war is over…"

            "You will withdraw your sword?"

            "Yes," Kenshin announced. "I think she knew that I would have to fight once more. But when this is over I will live the life that she wanted me to live. I will never kill again. Ever."

            "I see," Katsura replied before he got up to leave. "I'll see you in Kyoto, Kenshin."

            As he walked away from the house and down the warn mountain path, Katsura Kogoro was lost in thought. _Shinsaku, the world has turned out just as you said it would. I was wrong to doubt you. The sword of Hiten Mitsurugi should only be used to protect the new world, not destroy the old one. I'm sorry, Kenshin._

            And so it came to pass that a war was fought in Kyoto that would decide the fate of a nation. Fires lit the night sky and the rivers ran red with the blood of men that died every day. Some of these killers struck from the shadows, while others wandered the streets, slaying whatever enemy crossed their paths. And out of this blood soaked war their rose the legend of Battousai The Manslayer, the man who slays while drawing his sword, the one who was known as the strongest of the Imperialists.

            Another legend also arose during these years, of a manslayer who stayed to the shadows, a man whose face no one had ever seen and lived to tell about. He became known as a ghost, The Phantom of Kyoto, whose very presence was as cold as death.

            Both were instrumental in bringing about the Meji revolution to a close, and when the fighting was over, they both disappeared into the shdows, and were forgotten by the chronicles of history.

Ending AN: Well that's it for the revolution arc in this little project of mine. I know the fifth chapter kind of sucked and left a lot of questions still unanswered but I really needed to get this background part out of the way so I could move on the actual story. Oh, and if you're wondering what the whole 'China consumed by flames thing was, that was Saffron's rise to power which Ranma prevented in the original timeline. As for the Japan part, well that's what he's trying to prevent. 

Preview for Next Saga: It is now ten years after the revolution had ended and Ranma has all but given up in his quest to set history right for something else. However the former manslayer's dreams of settling down are cut short when the only man to ever survive a battle with Ranma during the war appears on his doorstep with an offer he can't refuse.

Next Time on Ranma ½: A Decision For The Future. 


	7. Chapter 6

See 1st Chapter for disclaimer

~.~

A Ghost of Tomorrow 

Saga 2: Tales of Tokyo

Chapter 6: A Decision For The Future.

            Ranma sighed as she watched the teakettle over the fire and waited for it to get hot enough to change her back. Even after staying here for ten years, she still missed the convince of hot running water. Not that it would have made much of a difference, she seemed to be attracting cold water a lot more since she return to this era. Not a day went by where she didn't get splashed at least four times. It was like the universe wanted her to stay a girl.

            That was another thing that Ranma found annoying about her curse, the fact that she was a _girl_. Although it seemed as if her abilities could still increase and Ranma had gained a few inches in the past few years, her female form hadn't matured much at all. 

            Sighing, she leaned up back against the wall then looked over to the calendar. It was January 28, the 11th year of the Meiji. Ten years since the war ended, had it really been that long ago? As came with thoughts of the war images stared to flash in her mind and she quickly tried to think of something else before she made herself too depressed.

            After the war had ended, and the Meiji government took control, Ranma became at a loss of what to do. At the time she was still looking for a way to avoid that horrible future she had been shown. So, with no other real guidance she traveled back to China, looking for her old Fung Shui master for guidance. She searched for five years, and came up with nothing.

            No, she did have something to show for those years, just not what she was expecting when she set out on that journey.

            Hearing the sound of someone running through her house Ranma looked up from the kettle to see a little girl coming into the room. She was clearly Chinese, with short green hair and pink eyes showing her Amazon ancestry. Ranma had found her near Jusenkyo when she had run into some of the Chinese Amazons.

            -China, Five Years ago-

            Ranma walked down the beaten path towards the valley of Jusenkyo intent upon her mission. Five years, for five years she had wanted this land looking for the old monk named Moruki, s it was he was Ranma's only hope of finding out how to steer the future back to it's proper course. She had to find him, she had to!

            Although she doubted that the old man was actually at Jusenkyo, he could check the spring's guest book and if he did visit the damn place she could at least get a general idea of just how far behind she was he ever come here. With the way he talked about her curse sometimes he had to know something about it. He knew about the locking abilities of the dipper that froze her cursed form. Of course if there was no record of him, at the very least she could get some spring of drowned boy and finally get rid of this stupid curse. It had been days since she had turned back into a guy.

            Seeing a group of people up ahead Ranma quickened her pace to catch up to them and see if they knew anything. It was a long shot, but her life always had been full of coincidences before, and it had to work in her favor one of these days. When she finally got within shouting distance she called out to them in Chinese. "Hey could you guys hold up for a minute, I need to ask you something!"

            Making her way down the trail and finally getting close to the group he noticed they were all women, four of them, with various colored hair. They were all Chinese Amazons, and they didn't look too happy to see the newcomer. "You are heading towards Amazon land, outside, leave now," she ordered.

            Ranma brought herself to a stop then looked around and noticed something she didn't see before, all of them except for the one in the back were holding their weapons closely; the rear Amazon was holding onto a basket, but she slowly put it down and drew twin short swords. The others held various other weapons, a bo staff, a large scimitar and throwing knives. 

            Ranma frowned as she prepared herself for combat by shifting into the mindset she used for combat. She didn't have any time for this. _Damn annoying Amazons. _"I have business at Jusenkyo, if you do not wish to travel with me then get out of my way. Now step aside, or I will go through you."

            "Outsiders are not welcome," the leader said as she lifted her bo staff.

            Ranma didn't talk before dropping her pack and moving at the head Amazon full speed. She ducked the woman's first strike then twisted to land an uppercut to her jaw while using her other hand to twist the staff out of the woman's hand and into her own. Then, feeling the woman with the daggers move, Ranma grabbed the leader's hair and shifted her position so the two blades flying through the air would strike her in the neck.

            Dropping the soon to be dead body Ranma leaped into the air and stuck the Amazon who had thrown the knives in the head with the captured bo staff so hard it broke upon impact. As the girl fell to the ground Ranma jabbed the splintered end of the staff into her throat with a killing blow.

            "Next," Ranma told the two remaining women in an emotionless voice.

            The two remaining women hesitated for a moment, and then the one with the large sword charged and swung at Ranma's midsection. _Stupid mistake._ Ranma lifted her arm and blocked the attack with her bracer then as the sword recoiled from the impact she reached forward and grabbed the hand holding the hilt and twisted it out of the Amazon's hand before spinning around and slicing into the Amazon's midsection halfway through. Finally, and the body dropped as Ranma pulled the sword away and looked towards the final Amazon.

            The woman looked at Ranma for a moment, and then over to the basket beside her, then finally over to the basket she was carrying. A few seconds later she just threw her swords at Ranma and ran.

            "Do you really think you can get away from me so easily," Ranma said. "You're the ones who started the little fight by attacking me and you think I'll let you quit before it's finished?" _All those who lay eyes upon my battles, shall not live to tell about it._ With that thought that had been her code throughout the revolution Ranma jumped high into the air and gathered her ki to kill the last Amazon. "Yama-Sen-Ken Style: KIJIN RAISHUU DAN!"

            Letting the vacuum blades fly Ranma dropped back to the ground as her attack sliced into the last Amazon and ended her life.

            With the battle ended she turned back towards Jusenkyo and started down the road again. Only to stop when she heard the sound of someone crying behind her. The girl turned around so she could see if one of her opponents was still alive, only to see their bodies hadn't moved since she dropped them.

            The sound was coming from the basket.

            Her curiosity peeked, Ranma walked up to the basket to see what was making all that racket, and saw a small baby crying. She looked at the child before raising her fist to put the thing out of its misery. After collecting her ki for a killing blow Ranma prepared to strike when she realized just what she was about to do.

            _What the hell am I doing_?

            (End Flashback)

            If it wasn't for that moment, Ranma had no idea where she would be right now. During her studies of Fung Shui she ha altered the Soul of Ice technique so that she wouldn't have nightmares from the guilt of her actions, but the technique was far from perfect.

            She remembered Katsura once saying that before her death, and even after it, Tomoe had served as a sheath for Kenshin. She kept him from becoming an unrepentant killer. But Ranma, she had gone down that road, becoming a manslayer in every fiber of her being. She hated it, and she hated herself for becoming that thing which she most despised. She had gotten so damn caught up in her mission that she had lost sight of everything else, and only a fool couldn't see that rode led to disaster.

            So, she took the child with her to Jusenkyo and then back up to the Amazon village, only to have them attack her on sight. It seemed warrior with the golden eyes of a manslayer weren't welcomed in China at this time. With nowhere else to drop the child off, Ranma took her with him to try and find her a good home.

            In the end, the baby ended up saving Ranma's soul from being consumed by her manslayer side. She couldn't very well kill in front of the little child, and she couldn't leave the baby on its own. Then, as the years went on and the child started to grow Ranma couldn't find a home for her, and at that time even if he did, he didn't think he could leave the girl.

            Finally, Ranma returned to Japan to raise little Tomoe, forsaking her duty for her adopted child. She found a home in Yokohama, Tokyo held too many memories and Kyoto had too much baggage. So, she moved here, taking up her old name of Ranma Saotome, husband of Ranko Saotome. However Ranma wasn't seen very much thanks to the whole water problem.

            "Momma, momma," the girl cried out before running up to the redhead dressed in a loose fitting shirt and pants.

            Ranma simply smiled at her daughter before reaching out to calm her down so that she could actually understand what the girl was trying to tell her. She might have shared Tomoe's name, but that was about all the two females had in common. But, Tomoe Saotome was still very young, who knew what she would grow up to be.

            "Ok little one now slow down," she said while gently stroking Tomoe's hair. "Now, what is it that you want to tell me?"

            "There's a man outside wanting to see the you," she told him. "And he came up in a pretty carriage, and he has a sword and-,"

            "Tomoe," Ranma told the girl sternly. "Now what have I told you about talking to strangers? Especially opening the door for them?"

            "But was one of the men you said it was ok to," the girl replied with a confused face. "He had a blue hat on and a big fancy blue suit like Mr. Takana did down at hat powice…pawice…"

            "Police station?" Ranma asked.

            Tomoe simple nodded her head in response while Ranma in turn gave her a quick hug. "Ok little one, I'm sorry, you did the right thing." She gave her daughter a quick kiss on the head then stood up, taking one last look at the teakettle, if the police swordsman wanted to see 'Ranko' then changing back wouldn't serve any purpose. "Why don't you go out to the back yard while mommy sees what this is all about ok?"

            "Ok momma," the girl said before leaving the room while Ranma headed for the door.

            "Now what the heck would a police swordsman be doing here?" Ranma asked herself as she walked into the main room of her house and over to the door.

            The man had yet to enter but as soon as Ranma saw him she could tell something was off. He was tall for a Japanese man, and against Ranma's short frame he towered over her in quite the imposing way. However it wasn't his size that made him seem all that dangerous, it was his aura. It was dark, and seemed to reek of blood. At his hip, instead of a normal saber there was a Japanese katana. Then there were his eyes, they were narrow, and seemed to gleam with a faint golden shine. There was also something about the man, but Ranma couldn't put her finger on it.

            He seemed to look a little surprised at seeing her for a moment before a mask of cold indifference quickly covered the emotion.

            "May I help you officer?" she finally asked after taking the man's presence in.

            "You are one Ranko Saotome, age seventeen, formally Ranko Tendo, daughter of one Kimiko and Soun Tendo, correct?" he asked making Ranma frown at the names. When she had arrived back in Japan she had got in contact with some of her remaining friends in the government that knew of her existence to procure a new name and false background. After that she had cut all ties with them and settled down to raise Tomoe, wanting to not be bothered.

            "Yes, that's correct," Ranma replied. "Is there something you needed?"

            "May I come in?" the officer asked. "This is the sort of thing that shouldn't be talked about in the doorway."

            She stood there for a moment and then waved her hand to motion the man inside before walking into the house and out of his way. Maybe she should offer him some tea or something? Just because she had been pretending to be a housewife for the past five years didn't mean she actually knew the duties of one. She wasn't actually married after all.

            "I must say you've aged well," he said as he walked inside causing Ranma to stop. "You don't look a bit different than the time we fought in Kyoto, Ranko…or should I say, Sakura of the Choshu Clan, also known as the Phantom of Kyoto."

            At the man's words Ranma stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned her head back towards the man with a dark glare in her eyes. Now she knew what had been bugging her about him. "Hajime Saito," she said with distain. "Now I remember you." Ranma fully turned around and reached up to touch the small area underneath her breasts were Saito had cut her so long ago, the cut had long since closed up but she remembered the battle very clearly. She remembered, because in the entire war, the man standing in front of her was the only person to ever survive an encounter with Ranma. "What the hell are you doing here?"

            As the man walked into her house Ranma slowly shifted to a defensive stance and frowned at her bare arms. "What're you doing here?"

            "Calm down, I have no desire to fight you," the man said before walking over to the small area that served as a dinning room for Ranma and Tomoe then sat down on the pillow before gesturing to the other seat. "Sit down. I need to speak with you."

            "I'll stand thanks," Ranma said. "Now, tell me what you're doing here, then get out."

            "Very well, I'll get right to the point," Saito replied. "Shishio has been spotted working underground in Kyoto."

            Ranma frowned at the news. Makoto Shishio, she remembered that name. Back during the war after Kenshin stepped out of the shadows, Shishio was the assassin that had taken his place. She had only seen the man once, it was during the first time that she had met up with Katsura when he returned to this time. "So, what exactly has this got to do with me?"

            "So then you really have dropped out of the loop then," Saito said. "Very well, here's what's going on. As you know during the revolution Makoto Shishio was a manslayer who worked behind the scenes, the same as you. However, while you stepped down from you position and disappeared when the war ended, Shishio did not. He eventually became too power hungry, and the Meiji government attempted to eliminate him."

            "Attempted?" Ranma asked.

            "They failed," Saito told her. "Shishio was drenched in oil and set on fire, then left for dead. But he actually survived. After healing from his wounds he has stepped out of the shadows and is now causing trouble. He has gathered a group of warriors and assassins, and is using the secret of his assassinations and threats to control the government. He plans on controlling it from the shadows.

            "I've been ordered to gather a group of swordsman to dispose of him."

            "And so you came to me," Ranma summarized.

            "Actually, it was Lord Okubo who pointed me out to you," Saito corrected. "Quite frankly I didn't even know you existed. The only actual proof there ever was of your existence was the people you killed. And I certainly didn't expect you to be a woman."

            "Sorry, but I'm going to have to turn down you offer," Ranma told him. "I'm afraid that I haven't even been in a real battle in over four years. I've settled down and started a new life, one where I don't feed off the suffering and deaths of others. My obligations to the government had been fulfilled years ago. Besides, the Meiji government got itself into this mess, and it can get itself out."

            "I…see," Saito replied as he looked out the window to the backyard. Ranma looked to see what had him so interested and saw Tomoe outside playing in the sand. "Funny, Okubo explained to me about your…ability. I didn't think you would actually have a child."

            Ranma frowned at the man. "She's not mine, not biologically anyway. I…found her in China after a run in with a group of fighters a few years ago; she had no one left. I ruined so many lives during the revolution, at least this way, I am helping to create something, instead of destroying."

            They stared at each other a minute then looked out the window and back to each other. Both of the warriors from the revolution sat in silence.

            "Very well," Saito said finally breaking the silence. "If that is your decision then I will not try to force something else upon you, people who do not fight willingly are useless in a battle such as this." He stood up and picked his katana up from the wall that it was leaning against then reattached it to his belt before putting his hat back on before starting to head out. "Besides, if you've become as lax as the Battousai in the past ten years then Shishio will tear you to pieces."

            Ranma shook her head at the comment and stopped herself from replying to the jab at her abilities. True, she hadn't actually had much combat experience for awhile, and didn't even work out half as feverously as she did even when she was a teenager, but taking care of Tomoe while earning enough money to support a home was hard enough work. Skills meant for killing didn't serve her well in those respects.

            "So then, Kenshin isn't joining you in this little venture?" Ranma asked.

            "That has yet to be decided," Saito replied. "I was under the process of evaluating him when Okubo discovered your whereabouts and sent me here. However I can see that this has been a waste of time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to get back to. Goodbye."

            As Saito reached the door and started to open it, Ranma's curiosity got the better of her. From what she remembered of history class, Kenshin Himura had all but disappeared. "Wait," she called out. "How is Himura doing nowadays anyway? I lost contact with him after the revolution and was wondering what he was doing nowadays."

            "The last I heard he stopped an assassin from killing a government official a week ago," Saito replied. "However from I can tell the Battousai is hardly the person he was during the final years of the revolution. Right now he is hardly up to fighting a demon such as Shishio."

            "I see," Ranma replied. "Well then you had best be on your way. I've got better things to do than stand around all day when the conversation is going nowhere." She turned around to head back to get some hot water and change back into a guy before getting Tomoe from the back yard so they could head into town.

            Once she was in the back room Ranma poured the water on herself, gaining the height and mass to fill out her clothes completely. _Makoto Shishio…funny, I don't remember him from the history books. I wonder how many other things that the Meiji government kept concealed._ Although, it did make a little sense, the embarrassment of loosing control of one of their own best men and then having said man nearly take over the entire nation with minimal effort would be too much to bear. 

            Searching his muscles Ranma started to head towards the back yard to get Tomoe when something just seemed to chick in his head.

            "_Down one of these paths of then Japan shall be consumed by the devil himself._"

            "_Right now he is hardly up to fighting a demon like Shishio_."

            Ranma looked back towards the door and down the road where Saito's transportation had already left before shaking his head. "Oh give it a rest Saotome. You gave up on that stupid idea years ago. Just settle down, and raise your daughter as best you can. Even if the future is going to end up bad you can still make the best of the present."

            Unless that is of course Shishio started another civil war in Japan in the next few years.

            That idea stopped Ranma cold. The Sainon wars hadn't ended too long ago, and if another war did break out…

            "Stupid conscience," Ranma mumbled. "Why the hell couldn't you just keep your damn mouth shut for once?" He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Well, I better get Tomoe over to the neighbors, if I wanna catch Saito I better get moving."

            Two days later a young man in dark gray kung-fu pants and a red Chinese shirt walked down the streets of Tokyo with an oversized backpack that looked as if it weighed twice as much as he did. His hair was cut off short in the back and in the front it hung down just barely a half an inch above his blue eyes. Suddenly he stopped, looked up, and then continued on. "Good, no clouds in the sky, maybe if I'm lucky I can actually meet these people as a guy."

            Saito had assured him that Tokiya was more than capable of taking care of Tomoe while he was doing this little task for the Wolf of Mebu. Well, the woman did look capable enough, and she had to be something special if she could stand to be married to that cold fish.

            Turning down the street Ranma approached the Kamiya dojo and took in a breath.

            -Yesterday-

            In the room behind him Ranma could hear the sounds of Tomoe playing with Saito's wife while he sat in front of the other man and calmly sipped his tea. Putting the cup down, he looked up towards the taller man. When he had caught up to the guy in town it had been as male and Saito didn't recognize him at all, but the old member of the Shinsen Gumi didn't seem even seemed to be phased by Ranma's transformation; he just mumbled something about Okubo not being crazy after all.

"So then, you want me to help you with your evaluation of Himura? How come?"

            "As it is now I'm only given the basic background information of the Battousai's recent activities," Saito told him. "And even then it takes some deduction to figure out just how everything happened. I need someone on the inside, someone who's there, right next to Himura to watch his every move."

            "Why not just tell him what's going on right now, then we can all head to Kyoto," Ranma suggested.

            Saito however just shook his head. "It wouldn't make any difference if we were to leave right now. Although we know Shishio is basing his operations out of Kyoto, the Meiji government still has no clue to just where he's positioned his base. Besides, if we charge in and the Battousai isn't up to the task, he will only serve the purpose of getting in our way. There's no room for mistakes here."

            The taller man finished off his tea then stood up. "I'll be expecting weekly reports of the Battousai's progress. We've given you more than enough money for you to pose for your cover, and provided you with a better background if Himura becomes suspicious and tries to check on you. If anything happens, inform the police chief and he'll get word to me.

            "Now, hurry up and get going, there's a carriage outside that will take you to Tokyo."

            "Alright," Ranma agreed. "Just let me say goodbye to Tomoe, and I'll be going."

-End Flashback-

            So hear he was, standing at the front of the dojo gates. A dojo…why the heck did they have to live in a dojo? And in Tokyo of all places? He didn't mind that it was a weapon using style, he had grown used to them during the years of the revolution. In fact, during the later years Ranma started carrying a few blades around with him. He did know a few techniques for the sword, but mostly he just used them in assassinations because he didn't want to feel a man dying with his own hands. The nightmares brought on by those murders were always the worst.

            "Well, might as well get this over with," Ranma mumbled, pushing the thoughts of the past back where they belonged.

            Walking into the dojo the young man looked around to see no one standing around. "Hello? Hey anybody home?"

            Kaoru Kamiya stood in the back yard of her dojo next to her first, and unfortunately only, student Yahiko.

            Much to her annoyance Sanosuke had taken Kenshin out earlier this morning to go gabling with some of his uncouth friends. She had tried to tell Kenshin no to go but…ok well she didn't really say anything about it but she had given him a really good glare! Besides, Kenshin was just a boarder at her dojo and he had chores to do…not to mention that it didn't seem like he had much money to gamble with anyway.

            When Kenshin got back Kaoru was definitely going to give him a piece of her mind.

            "Hello?" a voice called from the front of the dojo. "Hey! Is anybody home?"

            The voice broke the young woman out of her current thoughts and she lowered her wooden sword. Whoever it was didn't sound familiar. She hoped it wasn't the police again; it had barely been more than a week since that Kurogasa incident. She had seen Kenshin fight in battles before, but all of them combined paled in comparison from the look she had seen in his eyes when his manslayer side took control. Just remembering the look in his usually gentle eyes still sent shivers down her spine. 

            When she did get to the front of the dojo she was pleasantly relieved to see the young man standing there with the large backpack by his side. His face had almost the same clueless look that Kenshin almost always had, and he blinked a few times in confusion. "Excuse me miss, but do you know where I can find the master of this dojo?" he asked.

            She took a few moments to take the young man in. He seemed to be a bit younger than Kaoru herself, well built but not overly muscled. His short black hair was a little ruffled in places and his eyes were a grayish blue. Then there was his style of dress, it was all Chinese clothes but his face clearly marked him as Japanese decent.

            Maybe he was just like Sanosuke with that symbol for wicked on his back. In other words bad fashion sense.

            "Well then you must be looking for me," Kaoru told him. "My name is Kaoru Kamiya, and I'm the assistant master of the Kamiya Kashien style. May I help you?"

            "Yes," the teenager said. "My name is Ranma Saotome, I'm here to enroll in your dojo Kamiya-sensei."

……………………TBC

Preview of next chapter: The Kamiya dojo gains a new student although after their initial meeting Kaoru finds that he errrr, she, or whatever Ranma is, is a little on the odd side. Well, he'll fit right in. Anyway, while Kaoru is finding out about her new student Sanosuke drags Kenshin off to a gambling house. While there he meets a beautiful damsel in distress, who is being hunted by a mysterious group of ninjas.

Next Time on Ranma ½: A New Student, A New Acquaintance And a New Battle. 


	8. Chapter 7

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

Chapter 7: A New Student, A New Acutance And A New Battle

            Kenshin sat on the mat calmly sipping his tea while Sanosuke was rolling the dice in his hand before tossing them into the cup in front of him. "Evens six and two. Evens six and…" the taller man cut himself off as the first dice landed on a six while the second continued to spin around yet undecided…until it landed on a three.

            "Odds, six and three," Sanosuke's friend Genji said.

            The big street fighter stared at the bowel with his mouth open before looking over to Kenshin and shaking him thoroughly making Kenshin spill his tea all over. Although Sano was hardly a match for Kenshin in a strait up battle, he was still pretty strong, if unfocused. "Hey Kenshin what's wrong with you?" he demanded. "I thought your sword style was all about predicting the opponents movements? So how come you haven't gotten a single toss right huh? Hell, even if you can't tell what the way the dice are going to land then you should at least be able to get one right out of sheer luck!"

            "Oro?" Kenshin mumbled before the other man let him go.

            "Hey now Sano you seem to be gangling a little more than usual today," Genji asked in a cheerful manner. "What's up? I mean you haven't gotten a single toss and you just keep going."

            "Well I was just feeling lucky today and I was hoping to pay back my good buddy Yotia," Sano responded. "Say, where is Yotia anyway? He usually comes running when he hears we're going to gamble."

            The other two gamblers suddenly became quiet and looked downcast, making Kenshin snap out of his usually goofy mood and become serious. What happened?" he was about to ask, but Sano beat him to the punch.

            "It, it was opium," Tomo told the larger man. "Yotia said it was some kind new medicine, but by the time he found out it was opium, it was already too late."

            "Who, who could have sold Yotia opium?" Sanosuke muttered.

            However before Kenshin's friend could talk the door slid open, drawing all four men's eyes to the entrance, just in time to see a woman run in, she had long raven black hair and was dressed in a blue kimono, a look of panic on her face as she looked around the room before her eyes rested on Kenshin, or more precisely, the reversed blade sword laying at his side. She quickly ran into the building while kicking her sandals off at the door and wrapped her arms around Kenshin. "Please sir you've got to help me!"

            Kenshin didn't even have time to voice his confusion before two more men came running into the room. They both had swords drawn and looked at the woman. The one on the left had a smooth face and was wearing a yellow shirt while his accomplice had on light blue and a beard. "We've got you now woman," the first shouted.

            "There nowhere to run anymore so why don't you just give up?" the other asked.

            "Well now looks like we got some rude guests here." Next to Kenshin Sano slowly looked up from his dice bowl and frowned at them. "So then, what's the deal?"

            "Shut up," the first man with the beard yelled. "We're only here for that broad! You keep out of it." He started to walk forward and grabbed the woman by the shoulder but a second later Sano's fist impacted his face and sent him rolling across the mat.

            "You know I'm already in a bad mood today," the ex-fighter for hire said before standing up. "So watch what you say to me losers."

            "Do you have any idea who you're even talking to?" the other thug asked while pulling his unconscious man to his feet. "We happen to be the personal bodyguards of Kanryu Takeda."

            "Oh shut up," Sano told him before throwing the bowl and breaking it on the other thug's head.

            Since it seemed the situation was well in hand Kenshin removed the woman from around his neck and slowly stood up before looking over to Sano. With nothing to bother them at the moment he decided to ask the obvious question since he was still a little in the dark about Tokyo's underground. "Who's Kanryu Takeda?"

            "He's some young businessman that is pretty well known in the underground," Sano explained. "And he's rumored to be involved in some pretty bad business. All in all a real shady guy." When Sano finished his explanation he looked over to the mystery woman "Hey you, just how you mixed up with that guy?"

            "I have no idea what they're talking about I swear," the woman said.

            "You know it isn't very nice to lie Megumi Takani."

            As the voice reached his ears Kenshin felt his danger sense go off and slightly cursed himself for letting someone get so close. He and the other's turned their heads towards where the voice came from so see a small man with a very pointy nose and his hair spiked up and tied behind his head.

            "What? When'd he get here?"  Genji asked.

            "So, trying to buy a little time by playing the role of the damsel in dress then are we?" the ninja asked. "My what a clever little fox. But we're keeping a close eye on you so you'll find it quite impossible to run away little sweetheart."

            Megumi glared at the little man for a moment before stepping out of Kenshin's shadow with a angry look on her face. "Why don't you go back to Kanryu and tell him that no matter what he tries I'll do everything I can to run away from him again."

            "Oro?" Kenshin said before poking his head out from behind the woman. When did the damsel in distress role ever call for someone standing up for the people after her?

            "Well isn't that cute," the ninja remarked. "You actually think you can get away from us." Kenshin saw the short man's hand move but before he could react the ninja shot out two small spiral darts to Megumi's side and caught both of Sano's friends with his attack.

            "And now it's your turn dear." The ninja attacked again but while Sano was busy checking on his friends Kenshin rushed forward and slammed his open palm on the mat to prop it up and catch the two darts.

            "You know I don't exactly understand the situation very well," Kenshin said while lowering the mat. "But I certainly can't stand by and watch people hurt other's for fun. Hearing Sano shout something Kenshin looked over to see the big man move on the ninja while Kenshin did the same. They both moved around the mat shield and converged on the smaller fighter to punch him in the nose at the same time and send him flying into the house across the street.

            "I believe we should return to the dojo now, and bring Miss Megumi with us," Kenshin said. "That we should."

            Kaoru blinked a few times at the young man in front of her, surprised at the question. Other than a few private lessons to help pay the food bills and Yahiko, she really didn't have any students. The fake Battousai incident a few months ago when Kenshin had first come around had cleared her dojo out of real students and they had yet to come back.

            "Excuse me, Kamiya sensei?" the boy asked again.

            "Wha?" the girl replied shaking herself out of the daze of memories. "Oh yes you want to become my student…um, do you mind if I ask why?"

            Ranma nodded his head. He had been thinking up of a plausible lie to get into this place. In truth, he had long ago thrown away his beliefs about weapon users being weak; Ranma's run-ins with the Shinsen Gumi during the revolution, as sparse as they were, and the other opponents in China had taught him otherwise. Ranma himself had even used weapons from time to time when he needed a quick kill.

            "Well Miss Kaoru," Ranma started while messing with his hands like he was nervous or something. "You see I'm a wandering martial artist. But, well I just can't seem to find a style that suits my personality. I'm not exactly a violent person, and all of the swordsmanship styles that I've seen are centered around either killing your opponent or beating him until he is seriously injured and on the verge of death. Neither of these options are to my liking, so I wish to choose a different kind."

            "I see," Kaoru replied with a little bit of depression. "So, I take it as a wanderer I take it that that-"

            "Oh, I'm not a bum, I can pay for my stay," Ranma cut her off. "And I'm not homeless or anything, I'm just staying away from my parents while I'm on my training journey."

            Kaoru blinked a few times as Ranma pulled out a small pack of yen coins from her pack to prove her statement wasn't a bluff. "Well," the finally replied. "From the way you talk it seems like the Kamiya Kashien Style might be the right choice. Come inside, and I'll show you what it's all about, then you can make your choice."

            Ranma nodded, seeing that she had bought the story Ranma picked up his pack and started to follow the girl in when a sudden three-second shower drenched the aquatic transsexual making him, a her. Well, at least she met one of the dojo's occupants as a guy.

            "Oh let me run and get you a towel," Kaoru said as she turned around and notice the less than subtle changes in Ranma's frame. "So…you…can…dry…off?"

            Ranma sighed before dropping her backpack and dashing forward to catch the younger woman before she hit the ground. _Well, at least she got out a whole sentence before going under_, Ranma thought. "Most people just pass out before completing it."

            "…and that's how the whole transformation thing works," Ranma finished her explanation to Kaoru. Beside her the unconscious body of Yahiko lay sprawled out on the floor with a trickle of blood running down his nose and a black eye. Ok, so maybe she shouldn't have worn such a thin shirt while needing to explain the curse, being slashed by hot and cold water again and again made her clothes cling to her like a second skin.

            "I, uh, see," the assistant master replied a little breathlessly.

            Next to her the first student of the dojo slowly regained conscious and sat back up before looking over to his master. "Hey ugly just what the heck was that for?"

            The younger boy shouting at her finally broke Kaoru out of her daze and she looked back at her student. "Well what do you think it was for? You were staring!"

            "Well what the heck did you think I was gonna do?" Yahiko shouted back. "For crying out loud it's not everyday you see a girl who can turn into a guy!" Yahiko slowly looked back towards Ranma then got a bucket of water in the face.

            "For the last time," Ranma shouted. "I'm a _guy_ that turns into a girl! And besides, I think it was were you were looking that got sensei all upset."

            "Pervert," the assistant master muttered. 

            With Yahiko down once again the two girls prepared to continue their conversation when they heard someone call out the two practitioners' to the Kamiya Kashien Style's names. Ranma couldn't be sure but he knew at least one person outside was a reasonably strong fighter, it wasn't the Battousai though; whoever was there didn't seem to be hiding himself too good. "You better got see what that is," Ranma told her. "I'll go in the back and change."

            "Uh, sex or clothes?" Kaoru asked.

            Ranma stopped halfway across the floor then looked down at herself. Well, if he went out now the chances that another sudden shower would appear were probably one hundred percent. "Just clothes, with the way I attract water just turning back before you introduce me to your other friends is just asking for trouble."

            As Kenshin finished calling out the names of the other two dojo's residence, a moment later Kaoru and Yahiko came out into the front yard. The younger of the two was spouting a black eye and seemed to be tending to various head injuries. The sight made Kenshin wince slightly, if Miss Kaoru was in a bad mood, the next few moments in his life were about to get…very painful.

            "Oh Kenshin welcome-" however the lady's greeting was stopped abruptly when she finally seemed to notice the other woman that had come in alongside Sanosuke and Himura. 

            "I'm sorry we're so late," he apologized to a slightly stunned Kaoru.

            "Well this looks like a pretty rundown place," Megumi commented after looking the place over for a minute. The comment of course shook Kaoru out of her shocked state and put a frown on her face. Oh yes, things were definitely not looking good. "Is it a dojo?"

            "Ok who's this supposed to be?" Kaoru demanded while pointing to the other woman.

            Trying his best not to get pounded Kenshin put a smile on his face. "Well, let me introduce you to Miss Megumi Takani. She was being chased by some mysterious characters."

            Kenshin tried not to sigh in relief as Kaoru calmed down for a moment, but that relief was short lived when Megumi stepped behind him and put her hand on the wanderer's shoulder in an almost seductive manner. "Yes, but Sir Ken barely saved me from them," she said before moving even closer. 

            _Ah crap_, Kenshin thought, knowing full well there this was going.

            "S-I-R KEN?!!" *WHAM*

            Ranma looked up from her backpack at sound of what sounded like an irate tomboy's fist meeting the flesh of her current boyfriend/love interest/fiancée. It was a sound Ranma still remembered even after all this time since all of her previous experience with it. "Well, better go see what I got myself into," she mumbled.

            With a clean Chinese shirt on and the wet ones set out to dry the girl slowly made her way around back to see what the big commotion was about. When she got in sight Ranma saw an unknown woman standing off to the side with a guy with dark hair that kind of reminded Ranma of a rooster for some reason dressed in a karate gi, mostly likely that Zanza guy Saito had told him about, and Yahiko standing a bit behind the main event with his arms behind his head as if bored. The main event of course was Kaoru beating a man with red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek over the head with a practice sword while calling him all kinds of names.

            The whole thing caused a sweat drop to appear on her head. But not wanting to get involved right now she dropped her ki below levels even normal for an average human and just sat back to watch, and not get caught in the crossfire. 

            _Wait a second,_ she thought. Ranma looked over to the guy with the headband, then to what was clearly a woman interested in the Battousai, then to the dojo, and finally to the woman in the gi who was pounding a redhead as hard as she could. "Oh god, I'm getting this really sick feeling of déjà vu."

            When Kaoru finally seemed to vent her frustrations out Ranma decided to finally make her presence known. She walked out from her hiding place and readjusted her ki as Kenshin finally dropped to the ground. "Uh, Miss Kaoru, what's going on here?"

            The girl in question seemed to snap out of her enraged state then look over to Ranma with a puzzled expression, not noticing that the other woman had bent down to check on Kenshin, much in the way Shampoo did to Ranma sometimes, just more subtle.

            "Well hey Missy you didn't tell us you had some company over," Sanosuke said as he looked Ranma over, much to the cold water girl's annoyance. Even if she had gotten to the point where she didn't pound people for checking her out, Ranma still hated it when guys hit on her. Then the man looked from her, over to Kenshin, and back to Ranma, then shugged.

            "Oh Ranma," Kaoru replied. "Well, this is-" however whatever she was going to say was cut off when she looked down to see Himura in a daze on the ground, and in the arms of the other woman. "Hey now just a minute you! Just what exactly are you doing here? And what's your relationship to Kenshin anyway?"

            A little distraught at being blown off Ranma frowned, but for the most part ignored the whole thing. Instead she wisely stepped away from those two and over to the fighter for hire to avoid any misdirected anger. "Is she usually like this?" Ranma asked in a whisper.

            "Unfortunately," Sanosuke replied.

            When the two martial artists looked back they saw the fight had started up again, this time it looked like Megumi had said something to anger the tomboy and she was now trying to attack the mystery woman, but Yahiko was holding her back with his arms around her waist. From the sound of it the reason for Kaoru's current tantrum was being called a sweaty little girl.

            "You know you shouldn't play around with her mind so much," Sanosuke warned Megumi. "This 'sweaty little girl' is actually pretty simple minded. Unlike some women who are a bit more cunning." Ranma could tell the last part was aimed at the older woman kneeling next to Kenshin.

            Down on the ground Kenshin was currently digesting all the information he could at the moment while trying to find a way out of his current situation. So there was a new student at the dojo, that was something he hadn't counted on when he brought Miss Megumi here for protection. Well, she carried herself well, which meant some training, but it was too early to tell to much.

            Plus, there was something else about her that just seemed to make him uneasy. As if he should be on guard against the girl for some reason that he couldn't figure out. Well, maybe it was the red hair; people with that color were uncommon in Japan, and it just reminded him of a few times when he looked in a mirror during the revolution.

            However Kenshin was brought back to the present when he felt an unfamiliar ki nearby, only a few feet above him. As he sat up he caught sight of a shadow sitting on top of the dojo wall but it disappeared a second later. Damn, they'd been followed. He was afraid of that.

            Before he could think any further on the matter Kenshin found himself being wrapped in someone's arms and being pulled back by Megumi. A few feet away he saw Kaoru cover Yahiko's blushing face while her look was full of anger. _Mental note, next time let Sanosuke save the girl._

            Four seconds later Mount Kaoru erupted in anger. "KENSHIN!"

            It was nighttime and the sun had set as Aoshi Shinomori stood looking over his _employer's_ dinner table while the idiot ate some foreign dish called steak. The fat cowardly pig, it didn't describe him physically, but as soon as the businessman hired Aoshi and the rest of his men, he could tell that's what the guy was.

            Personally, he hated working for the man and hated the man even more. But, his men needed the money for necessities, and the work itself wasn't too difficult. Actually their latest snag had been the only time Beshimi had failed in a long time, it could prove to be a good test of their skills. That was the real reason Aoshi and his men were doing this, for the challenge, not the money.

            The screams of the two failures from this evening as they were excited filled the night and made Aoshi even more dejected towards Kanryu. "I that's better," the worm said. "I don't feel comfortable until I discard things that are useless to me. I'd have to say you're much more lenient in that respect eh Aoshi?"

            Aoshi frowned at the pig and his attempt to seem ruthless. The man was an idiot, you wed out worthless people before selecting a group to lead, any failures on the men afterwards were the fault of the leader for choosing them, and afterwards you worked to remove the weakness in the person, not the person themselves. Ruthless towards your own men was just stupidity.

            "What I do with my own men is my own business," he told Kanryu.

            "Well, I have no complaints as long as Megumi is brought back to me," the man replied.

            Aoshi didn't acknowledge the man with an answer before looking back to the ninja sitting on the roof. Hanya's basic ninja gi was only augmented in mysterious by the mask of a fanged demon with his mouth open that covered his face. Most thought it was just for effect or protection, but the other members of the Oniwaban Group knew it was because his face had nearly been destroyed in a battle, a side effect of wanting to be the best, and the reason Hanya couldn't have a normal life after the war ended. In actuality his natural face was probably more disturbing than the demonic one. "Hanya, I want you and Hyottoko to accompany Beshimi to complete this job."

            "Yes sir," the ninja replied with a bow.

            As the night came to the Kamiya dojo the excitement from the morning finally seemed to wind down. Kaoru's new student Ranma had turned in early for the night, saying that she had a hard day of traveling to get to Tokyo, and left the other's quickly with Yahiko not far behind. Sanosuke had decided to take watch outside and Miss Kaoru herself told everyone that she had some things to do before going to bed. So, Kenshin was left alone in one of the empty rooms of the dojo with Miss Megumi to talk to the woman about her problem.

            "Kanryu has about sixty bodyguards, but the worst of the all is the one known as Leader," she told Kenshin.

            "Leader?"

            "A former spy, different from his personal bodyguards," Megumi explained. "He's a genius who right before the revolution took command of the Oniwaban group, the defenders of Edo castle, at the age of fifteen, Aoshi Shinomori.

            "But as long as you're here Sir Ken I know that I'd be safe even if every one of those bodyguards were to attack the dojo at this very instant," the concluded with an obvious fake trust in Kenshin's skills. How come it was that every woman in the world thought that men who could fight didn't have any brains and would do anything for a pretty face?

            "Well I certainly hope that doesn't happen though," Kenshin replied trying to seem as pleased as he could about the comment. Just because they didn't affect him didn't mean that he shouldn't ignore them completely.

            Well, with the useless talking out of the way it was time to move onto more important issues. "So Miss Megumi, would you mind telling me just why you're running away from Kanryu and his men? Andy why exactly are they so obsessed with catching you?"

            However instead of replying the woman simply turned her head and looked towards the door. "You should listen when other's are talking to you, that you should," sweat dropping at the woman's obvious avoidance of the question.

            "I don't want to tell you! Only thoughtless men try to pry into a woman's personal affairs," she told Kenshin, only making him sweat a little more.

            With no real way to try and get her to talk Kenshin just sighed. _Figures, that's all I get when I go into the heart of the matter. _

            Sanosuke tried his best not to laugh at Kaoru trying to sneak up to the door. If Kenshin wanted to he could probably have sensed the little missy coming a mile away, but just for kicks the street fighter waited until she had moved up to Megumi's shadow and was right in a prime snooping position with her ear up against the door before scaring her.

            "You know it's not nice to eavesdrop missy," he said with a smirk with the girl when ridged. "As assistant master of the Kasshin style you should be ashamed."

            "Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen," she squealed out after running right up to Sano's face. "What am I supposed to do when Kenshin seals himself up in a room with a woman as soon as he gets back here?" She then completed the effect by getting all big and teary eyed, making Sanosuke sigh.

            "You really should know Kenshin better than that," Sano scolded her. "Kenshin may be the kind of guy who's good at swordsmanship, but when it comes to women he's completely lost."

            "Well yeah I know that, but-,"

            "But," Sano butted in. "You know there are limits on how good a person could be." However when he saw her look back to the dojo with an even worse expression than before Sano tried quickly to recover. "Oh, never mind that last part. I'm sure Kenshin will be a perfect gentlemen to the very end…probably."

            "What do you mean probably?"

            Luckily before this could continue on, the door opened up and Kenshin stepped out, making Kaoru freeze and get out of her fussy state. "Sano, have you seen anything suspicious yet?" he asked.

            "Nope," the ex-fighter for higher replied.

            "Considering our opponents have the Oniwaban group on their side it's pretty safe to assume that they already know that Miss Megumi is here. It's important that we don't let down our guard that it is."

            "The Oniwaban group, they're ninja's right?" Kaoru asked.

            From his place in the house Kenshin stepped down to one of the steps where his sandals were waiting and put them on without breaking stride. His usual mask of a goofy swordsman was completely gone now like whenever he decided to get serious. "I had hoped not to be a bother to you Miss Kaoru. But all things considered there might be some trouble before this is over I'm afraid. But I promise to keep you and the others safe."

            A second later the whole moment between the man and the woman was ruined when mischievous laughter filled the night. " Heard that Kenshin," a voice called out causing Sano and the other's to look around in confusion. He recognized the voice as Yahiko, but where the heck was it coming from?

            Not long after a pair of arms reached out from underneath the dojo and tripped Kenshin up. "So, something's going to be going on and you're leaving me out of it huh?" A few seconds later Kenshin completely fell down while the brat crawled his way up from under to dojo. "Were you guys going to be leaving me out of this? I don't think so! I'm a member of Kenshin's Group too you know!"

            "Kenshin's Group?" Sanosuke asked a little bored. "What the heck do you mean by that?"

            The boy quickly rushed up into Sanosuke's face. "Oh they can brink bows, swords, and even guns! I Yahiko Myojin will personally defeat them all."

            "You know you're pretty arrogant for a kid," Sano told the brat before kicking him lightly in the head.

            "WHAT Come here you!" The boy swordsman then jumped over the street fighter and started biting his head.

            "Yahiko stop that right now," Kaoru scolded her young apprentice.

            "Oh boy, if they're fighting among themselves right now, Kenshin's Group is in for a lot of problems that they are," the scarred swordsman said.

            As the sound of an explosion echoed through the night Ranma slowly sat up from her sleeping bag with a weary expression. Man, she had been dreaming about her daughter again, even two days away from the kid seemed to be a little too much for the mother/father. Ranma made a mental note to tell the others she had to go visit some family whenever the excitement around here died down.

            Now fully awake Ranma slipped on some nearby pants and shirt from before she went to bed and headed outside to see just the heck all the racket about. It better not have been another fight between Kenshin and Kaoru, looking all around Tokyo for this stupid dojo had really worn her out the other day. Stupid Saito and his stupid directions.

            After going outside and walking up to Megumi she was surprised by the sight. A huge man with dark tanned skin an some black hair on the top of his head was having a fight with that Sanosuke guy. A broken barrel that used to be full of some kind of liquid lay nearby, and the weirdest thing of all the mystery guy was breathing out fire.

            "Uh, what's going on?" the redhead asked.

            "Oh hello Ranma," Kaoru said before giving a short frown to the other woman. "I see you're up. You don't need to worry though. Kenshin and Sanosuke have everything under control."

            The ex-manslayer tried to looked as surprised as she could at the spectacle of a man breathing flames while looking at the fight. _Ok that's new_, Ranma thought while Sanosuke jumped into the flames towards what had to be one of the Oniwaban group. The girl crossed her arms and examined the technique. It wasn't like when the old pervert spit out fire, Happosai used the alcohol in sake combined with some hot ki to ignite it. But this guy didn't seem to be stopping with his fire breath for a quick refill, unlike the old master of Anything Goes martial arts.

            Ranma got her answer to how the guy was doing his trick with Sano punched his mouth and reached down the bigger man's throat with holding onto his hair with the other hand to keep in the ninja's face. A second later the street fighter jumped back, and pulled a giant rubber tube connected to a huge fire proof sack out of Hyottoko's mouth before landing on the floor.

            "So then, this is how you did your little magic trick," Sanosuke mused while pulling the bag a little closer to him.

            From her position on the ground Ranma looked at the bag with a confused expression, then the barrel and finally Hyottoko's open mouth, and noticed that the fighter only had his front two teeth, and they were lined at the edges with some kind of metal, probably flint. _Oh I get it now. Tubby drank some kind of oil and put it into his bag before causing a spark and making the stuff squirt out by contracting his muscles in certain places. _

            "So what now?" Sanosuke asked. "You're out of tricks right?"

            "This fight's not over yet," the larger man shouted before attacking, only to get kicked in the face and knocked out by Sanosuke a second later.

            "Well that was a piece of cake," he said with a thumbs up towards Kenshin.

            "You go hurt pretty badly over a piece of cake," Kenshin replied.

            "Hey, are you guys alright?" Kaoru called out before rushing over to the two fighters and looking them over. Kenshin was fine of course but she seemed to make a big fuss over Sanosuke's injuries. "You won by the skin of your teeth!"

            "That he did," Kenshin agreed.

            "What was that?" Sano asked through clenched teeth.

            Ranma lost trail of the conversation as she looked around the yard. Something wasn't right about this. During all her years as an assassin she had learned one very valuable fact about life, when someone smart wanted to kill you they didn't sent a seven foot mountain of muscle crashing through the gate to take on an unknown foe. They used subtlety, like when she went out on assassination missions.

            Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later when her danger sense flared and she sensed a presence up in a tree not too far away. Kenshin called out a demand to know who was there while Ranma instinctively reached forward to grab something out of the air that was heading for the woman standing beside her.

            The girl felt a small pin prick in her hand and noticed the feel of poison working its way through her system. Well, she wasn't in any real danger, all she would have to do was focus her ki on exterminating the toxin and…that would give her away to the person she was supposed to be spying on with the lightshow it would produce. "Oh crap," Ranma mumbled as a feeling of wooziness overtook her. "That's not good."

            From his place across the yard Kenshin saw that new student of Kaoru's stumble around before collapsing completely while Yahiko and his teacher ran to check up on her. _Damnit, whatever she was hit with was probably poisoned!_ He cursed himself for his failure, Kenshin had promised Miss Kaoru that he would protect everyone, and now the newest addition was already dying! The swordsman immediately readjusted his sights back to the tree.

            There! In the upper branches was that ninja Beshimi from this morning. He didn't take too long to drop out of hiding. "Little bitch, that's what she gets for butting in," he said. "Well there's no way that girl will last another hour. The death poison spiral attack has never failed to kill its target. Now I'll kill the rest of you, starting with that swordsman guy."

            However by the time he was actually finished speaking Kenshin had already closed the distance between them and was in the air, positioned for a Ryu-Tsui-Sen. He was going to make the Oniwaban member pay for gloating about his latest victim.

            Then a second before the strike connected another ninja appeared from behind the first and grabbed Beshimi to pull him back while Kenshin's sword made quiet the large dent in the ground. The scarred swordsman looked up to the top of the wall and glared at Beshimi's rescuer. This ninja was dressed in the more traditional style, but his face was hidden by a white demon styled mask and the cloth on his arms formed a red and black striped pattern. He was stronger than he looked because he not only held Beshimi in his arm, but Hyottoko as well.

            "To think a swordsman like you still exists in this day and age," the new ninja said. "I see we have been taking our opponents too lightly. I am sure that I will fight you myself someday. Until then, we'll leave this fight unfinished."

            _He's good._ Kenshin frowned as the man jumped away and disappeared into the night but didn't follow. Right now they needed to take care of their own. If he hurried to Dr Gensai's he might just be able to bring the old man back in time, that is if the old doctor knew a cure to the poison.

            "Sir Ken come here I need you for something," Megumi called out in a serious tone.

            "What're you doing we need to suck the poison out right away," Kaoru yelled.

            "No," Megumi argued. "Sucking the poison out can cause bacterial infection and might make her even worse. Now get out of my way. This is not something normal people can do." The woman bent down to the redhead and put her thumb on Ranma's wrist while the other one on her head. "Slight fever, and the eyes are dilated, it's probably thorn apple poisoning." She looked up to the group, who were now totally lost, and frowned. "You girl, I'll right down a medication and you have it brought here. Yahiko, boil some water. Sir Ken, bring a towel and any medication you have in this place. And you rooster head, go to the store and get as much ice as you can!"

            "Uh, hot water," both Kaoru and Yahiko said at the same time with looks of hesitation on their faces.

            "What are you all waiting for?" she shouted. "Get moving!"

            "Uh, right," Yahiko said before looking at the girl one last time then dashing off. "Man, she better not feint like ugly did."

            As the group in front of him left for their different tasks Sano stood there for a second longer, he would have to get some money from Kaoru since he didn't have any. As he started to walk to the dojo the street fighter noticed Megumi had dropped some paper wrappings on the ground, still closed.

            His curiosity getting the better of him for the moment Sano walked over and opened one of them to reveal a light powder of some kind. He put his finger into the stuff the stuck it into his mouth to see just what she had on her. To say he was stunned would be an understatement.

            The powder was opium.

            Memories of just this morning flashed through Sanosuke's mind along with other memories of his now dead friend. "_Yotia said it was some kind new medicine, but by the time he found out it was opium, it was already too late_."

            "Why would she have opium?" he muttered. _Maybe she's the one we should be watching out for. _


	9. Chapter 8

See 1st Chapter for Disclaimer

            It was a quiet night on the out skirts of Tokyo. The owls were calling out into the night, the moon was high overhead, the streets were free of pedestrians as this was past midnight, a time when everyone was quietly asleep in their beds.

            "WHAT IN THE NAME OF HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

            Oh yeah, that is unless you happen to be in the Kamiya Dojo where a group of evil ninjas just attacked and ended up poisoning a certain short scar-less redhead with short hair in a Chinese shirt who was being treating for thorn apple poisoning and just had her wound cleaned with lukewarm water.

            If that was the case then you would see, and hear, a man in a white gi with the symbol for bad on his back and a head of hair that looked slightly like a chicken, whom was also quiet superstitious, shout loudly before jumping back to the far wall with his mouth agape while a short boy in a yellow and gray hamiaka was rolling around on the floor laughing and pointing to before mentioned chicken head. At the head of the patient was a woman (since the old man would have probably had a heart attack) who was obviously a doctor with a red hand mark on her face she got from being slapped out of a daze, she was still treating the boy/girl.  There was also a man with red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his face sitting next to the now male dark haired boy with wide eyes and a very concerned looking young woman who didn't seem to notice the change at all, who was instead watching the red-haired samurai.

Chapter 8: Strongest Group of Ninjas: The Horrible Oniwaban Group

            Kenshin couldn't believe what he had just seen. A girl, who looked incredibly similar to himself except shorter had just…changed, into a young man. His master had always said there were more things in the world than he could possibly understand with his logic but the student had only just thought it was his old master's stupid insults to his intelligence. Now, he wasn't so sure…then again knowing Hiko it was probably meant as both.

            Finally getting his wandering mind back under control Kenshin started to hear something. A voice…a female voice.

            "Kenshin? Kenshin you're alright aren't you? You're not going to faint or anything right? Kenshin?"

            Oh yeah, it was Miss Kaoru's voice. Finally back in reality but still a little discombobulated at the sudden distraction the wandering ex-manslayer decided to use the great and all encompassing reply what would answer even the most confusing of questions. A word so mighty and yet completely meaningless that no dictionary within all of Japan could put down its meaning least they run out of room.

            Kenshin looked over to Kaoru and blinked while a confused expression covered his face. "Oro?"

            "Oh good," the girl replied. "Now, about what just happened…"

-The Next Morning-

            "Oh hey do it again do it again!"

            *Splash*

            "Ok now my turn!"

            *FSSSSSSSHHHH*

            Ranma repressed a groan as he sat out in the back yard of the dojo while the old man Dr. Gensai's granddaughters were 'playing' with him. It had been going on for about five minutes now, the youngest of the pair held a small bucket of water while the older girl was using the teakettle.

            Well, the girls seemed to have adjusted to his sex changing curse the fastest of the group. Kaoru and Yahiko were still a little unsteady about it but not that their attitude got in the way or anything. Actually Sanosuke seemed to take it the worst out of all of them, even after the explanation of Jusenkyo he looked at Ranma a little nervously. Then there was Kenshin, Ranma really didn't know how to gauge that man's reactions to the curse, he kept his emotions too hidden, even if he seemed to be all smiles on the outside, Ranma knew he was nothing like that underneath. 

            Right in front of her Ranma could hear Yahiko snickering in delight at the obvious discomfort the transsexual was feeling, but she did her best to ignore it. That, and the constant changes as a sort of amusement. She really hated it when people used her curse as a form of amusement, but then again Ranma had often transformed to entertain Tomoe when the girl was younger or needed an older woman to talk to. She seemed to relate more to her 'mommy' than her 'daddy'.

            Another splash of hot water followed by immediate cold brought Ranma back to reality before she spit out some liquid that had gotten in her mouth. Yahiko was now completely hysterical from the look on the redhead's face. _What the heck did I ever do to deserve…ok, that was kinda a stupid question. _

            Inside the dojo Sanosuke stood near the entrance and watched Megumi come in a set down near the tea set before she started preparing everything. He had to admit, she didn't look like she was the kind of person who would be involved with the Yakuza, but all the other evidence spoke to the contrary, and in his pocket Sanosuke held the most damning evidence of all.

            "I never dreamed that I'd meet such good people," she said to herself as she poured some of the warm liquid into the cups.

            "And how exactly are you going to explain this to all those good people out there?" Sanosuke asked as he fished around in his pocket until he found the medicinal packet that had been there since last night. His voice startled the woman and caused her to turn around while he finished his question. "…explain to me exactly why you have something like this? Why do you have opium?" he finished with a shout before tossing the drug on the floor.

            Out of the corner of his eye Sano saw Kaoru standing in the doorway, wearing a yellow kimono with a flower design with a confused look on her face. "Opium?" she asked. Kenshin was behind her, leaning against the wall, but he said nothing. 

            "Well?" Sanosuke demanded. "I'm waiting for an explanation lady!

            "It's because, I was the one who made it," she replied sadly.

            Sanosuke blinked in a bit of surprise that was quickly covered up by his anger, he had to admit that he didn't expect her to confess to her crime so quickly. But it made little difference. "I see," he said. "So you're the one who gave that stuff to Yoita and killed one of my best friends."

            "Wait Sanosuke," Kaoru told him before turning over to Megumi. "Miss Megumi, please tell us the reason, why is it that you have opium with you?"

            Megumi only looked at the missy with big brown lost eyes, not saying anything. It was at that time that Kenshin had finally had enough and decided to finally step in. Moving out of the doorway he stepped up behind Kaoru. "Could it be, it's because you're the daughter of a Mr. Ryusei Takani, Miss Megumi?"

            That seemed to shake the woman about of her trance and she spun around to face Kenshin with a confused and somewhat despite expression. "How in the world do you know my father's name?"

            "Perhaps we should take a seat that we should," the scarred man replied.

            A few moments later Kenshin was sitting down in the middle of one of the back rooms of the household. Megumi was across from him while Kaoru had her place next to him and Sanosuke sat off to the side with his arms crossed and head down, obviously not wanting to take part in the conversation.

            "So it's as I thought," Kenshin said. "The Takani family from Aizu was a family of doctors that spanned many generations. However, they got involved in the Aizu War between the Imperial army and the Izu clan. Mr. Ryusei ended up missing, along with both his brothers and mother. It was said that only the youngest daughter of the family was left alive."

            "So then, the daughter was Megumi," Kaoru reasoned.

            Kenshin nodded. He symphonized with the woman, being alone and the last of your family is hard under any normal circumstances, and a war was hardly normal. "It must have been very difficult to go through all those hardships."

            "It was difficult," she replied. "But the hardships I faced back then were nothing compared to what happened afterwards. I came from Aizu to Tokyo five years ago to make a new life for myself while apprenticing under a certain doctor. But that doctor, I didn't know at the time that he was partners with Kanryu, and although they had their differences, he was making opium to be sold on the black market. Then, they had an argument and the doctor was killed, and I was forced to make opium in his place."

            "So it was Kanryu," Sanosuke muttered before raising his head and seeing a tear drop from the woman's eye.

            "I had worked so hard over the years to become a wonderful doctor like my father," Megumi continued. It was clear to anyone that she was trying not to cry, and yet Kenshin could see all the tears gathering in her eyes. "Yet here I am, making lethal drugs that are taking people's lives instead of saving them. I, I thought of killing myself hundreds of times, but I could never go through with it!"

            "So then," Kenshin cut in. "Why was it that you ran away from Kanryu at that particular time Miss Megumi?"

            "I was forced to make a new kind of opium," she told him while reaching into her kimono and pulling out more triangular packets. "It could be mass produced cheaply. But if this got out to the public then it would be a disaster. So, I took all the opium I made and ran."

            From his place on the floor Kenshin nodded. "And since you're the only one who knows how to make that opium, this is why Kanryu is so persistent to get you back. Going so far as to even send the Oniwaban group after you."

            "This Kanryu guy is horrible," Kaoru said.

            "People like him usually don't give up so easily," Kenshin told them as he got to his feet. "It's better for you to stay with us for the time being that it is."

            "But I-"

            "I believe that it is time that you stopped blaming yourself for what happened," Kenshin cut her off after opening the door and looking outside. "You've suffered long enough, and it's time you forgave yourself for something that was not your fault in the first place that it is." He turned around and smiled at the women in the room with him "Right, Miss Kaoru?"

            "Yes," she agreed. "I know exactly how hard it is to be all by yourself. I think that if Dr Gensai, Kenshin and the other weren't around I might still be all alone, just like you."

            The younger woman gave the older a reassuring smile, but the whole cheerful moment was ruined as Sanosuke slammed his hand into the ground and groaned before standing up and moving out the door. "Sorry, but I just cant be as forgiving as you guys," he said before walking away. "One of my friends is dead because of her."

            "I think Sano just needs to take some time to figure things out that he does." Kenshin looked away from the street fighter's departing form and to the woman. "Give him some time and he'll come to terms with this on his own," he told the woman. The former manslayer's smile decreased a bit when he saw her eyes were full of tears again.

            Out in the back yard Ranma passed the ball to Ayame before looking out the corner of her eyes towards where Megumi was cleaning the plates from breakfast earlier this morning. She had to admit that the doctor made good food, and from what Ranma picked up from Yahiko during a conversation over the meal, it was much better than Kaoru's.

            It was another thing that unnerved Ranma about this place, the fact that the resident tomboy couldn't cook if her life depended on it. It was if that old saying about history repeating itself really was true. Well, Ranma wouldn't start to really worry until Sanosuke got completely lost going somewhere that a five year old to walk to, like Kyoto for example.

            "Hey Auntie Ranma get the ball," Sazumi told her.

            The voice brought Ranma out of her trance and she lunged forward to knock the plaything back when a flash of movement on the edge of her vision caught her attention and made her trip, falling flat on her face, and chest; even after all these years that part of her female body never did toughen up.

            "Auntie Ranma are you ok?" Ayame asked.

            Ranma just looked up at the two little girls and gave a little smile. "I guess I am still a little sick," she replied. "Why don't you girls go and play by yourselves, I think I'm going to get some rest." When the two children nodded and walked off with their toy Ranma looked back to Megumi and saw her running out the gate in a panicky hurry. _Well now, what have we hear?_

            Sanosuke frowned as he followed Megumi through the light forest and further away from the populated parts of the city.

            He had come to the dojo earlier that evening to help Kenshin protect the woman. The street fighter still hadn't forgiven the woman for what she had done, but that didn't mean he was going to let Kenshin and the others face something like the Oniwaban Group without some kind of backup. Ok, maybe he had been a little worried about the woman as well, but not much.

            Sano ducked behind a tree as Megumi ran into what appeared to be an old, short, traveling merchant in a long coat and cap. "Hello, thank you so much for stopping by today," the man said in a scratchy voice. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

            "No, I don't think so," Megumi replied in a confused tone.

            "I see," he said before raising his arm to take off his cap. As the 'old man' did he showed that a striped sleeve and a dark blue glove covered his arm. "However, this is something you can help me with!" Halfway through his sentence the man's size seemed to swell and the clothes suddenly burst apart revealing the ninja that had carried Beshimi and the fire breather off last night.

            Megumi tried to scream but the ninja with the demon mask reach forward and covered her mouth. "Kanryu Takeda is waiting for you," he said with a laugh before jumping up to a tree and used his legs to rebound off the trunk, flying into the forest while Sanosuke gritted his teeth in frustration.

            Up in the trees Ranma watched with a scowl as Sanosuke ran after the Oniwaban ninja.

            As it was, her options were quit limited. Going after the pair to help the street fighter was out of the question, her job for Saito required the utmost secrecy, and displaying skills that rivaled the Battousai's wasn't in the character of a wandering teenage martial artist.

            With no other real choice the redhead dropped to the ground and started to make her way towards the dojo. Just because she couldn't fight didn't mean she was powerless.

            Leaning against a tree Aoshi Shinomori watched out of the corner of his eye as his employer met with the Megumi woman while Hanya stood off to the side if she tried anything. Not that she would of course, but Kanryu seemed to have an almost paranoid need for security.

            "There's no need to worry," the cooperate rat assured her. "As I wrote in that letter I promise not to hurt you Miss Megumi. All I want is for you to come back where you belong, I promise to just forget everything if you just come along quietly."

            "And I assume you want me to make opium again," she replied.

            "Of course. After all, making opium is your job. You certainly never had a problem with it up until now, right?"

            The woman let a 'humph' before crumpling the note in her hand even more. "I just couldn't go through with killing myself, that's all. Because, if I stay alive and remain in the medical field I knew that someday I would be reunited with my family. That is why I couldn't do it."

            "That's a wonderful story Miss Megumi," he replied. "I'm sure you'll meet your family again someday."

            "But now I have finally made my decision. I don't care if I don't ever see them again. If it means that I have to go back to making drugs that kill people, then I would rather die right now!"

            "Now that's quiet touching," Kanryu said while walking closer to the woman and moving the large cigar that he kept in his right hand away from his mouth. "But I won't let you die alone. Perhaps the Kamiya Dojo will have a mysterious fire, and in the ruins they'll find the bodies of many dead and innocent children."

            As the Megumi woman looked on at the businessman in shock Aoshi turned the rest of the conversation out. He had no doubt that the leech would do something like that to try and force her into submission. Of course it would be the Oniwaban group that did the dirty work, not Kanryu himself.

            Aoshi leaned back against the tree, and an image seemed to flash in his head. It was of a girl, less than ten years of age, with dark black hair done in a ponytail, a slender frame, and cute little ice blue eyes. Miaso Makimashi, the last surviving relative of the former Leader and a girl he had left in Kyoto many years ago under the care of another Oniwaban member.

            Why would he think of that child at a time like this? It was true that he and the other members of his group had practically raised the girl, and she seemed to look at Aoshi as if he were the dearest thing in the world to her. 

            It wasn't that he missed her, Aoshi knew that. It was more like idle curiosity, as if wondering what Miaso would say if she saw him now. Would she…approve of him? Was that it? _Why would I think something like that?_ Aoshi wondered as he felt Hanya and the other man approaching while Megumi stood there motionless.

            "Why aren't you taking Megumi Takani with you right now?" he asked as the businessman passed his tree. "Could even the notorious Kanry Takeda feel threatened, knowing he faces the legendary Battousai the Manslayer?"

            "The way I see it is if we make Megumi leave on her own free will then the Battousai will have no motivation to get involved," he replied before walking off.

            Aoshi just shook his head, corporate fools like him had no clue as to the workings of someone like the Battousai's mind. They never would be able to understand as much as they tried. "Motivation huh?"

             "Leader," Hanya said. "There is a rat in hiding."

            "Let it hide Hanya," Aoshi told him coolly. "The only one that matters to us is Kenshin Himura, the legendary Battousai the Manslayer." As the ninja bowed and disappeared into the tree tops Aoshi turned and walked away from the meeting place. Behind him, he could hear the sobbing of the Megumi woman as she collapsed onto the ground from anguish and hopelessness.

            "Kenshin, come take a look at this," Miss Kaoru's voice called out.

            From his place in front of the fire alongside Yahiko, Kenshin looked up to see the dojo's owner running up to them with a letter in her hand and a surprised expression on her face. "Hey Kaoru is that note from Miss Megumi?" the boy asked while standing up.

            "Yes," the girl replied. "It says that she's going back to Aizu."

            "What?" Kenshin mumbled before reaching over to look at the note. It was just basic flattery and a thank you for Miss Kaoru's hospitality, while mentioning on the side that she would be returning to her ancestral home. IT took Kenshin about a whole two seconds to see that it was all a lie.

            He was about to tell them that when a shout came from the back gate. "MR. HIMURA, MR. HIMURA," the three dojo's occupants looked over to see the newest redhead resident of the dojo come bursting through the gate. Ranma ran up to them and then doubled over for a moment as if to catch her breath.

            "Hey there Ranma, anything wrong?" Yahiko asked.

            "Mr. Himura," she said again before taking another breath. "I was going out for a walk to get some fresh air when I saw Miss Megumi out in forest a minute ago. She was with one of those men from last night and, and some man in an expensive looking suit. I didn't get to see much because they left with her a few minutes after I walked by, I don't think they saw me though."

            Kenshin nodded as the girl only confirmed what he had thought was going on. "Damn," he mumbled. "Miss Megumi must be going back to Kanryu because of what happened last night. Most likely Kanryu threatened to hurt innocent people if she didn't return."

            "What, why that dirty scum," Yahiko shouted.

            "Kenshin, we have to do something about this," Kaoru told him.

            "That we will," Kenshin told them. He looked over at the redhead for a moment and saw she was still trying to catch her breath. "Ranma, are you in any shape to fight?"

            "No, I think I'm still drained from that poison running through my system," the girl replied.

            "That's just as well," the swordsman said. "Yahiko, Miss Kaoru and I will head down to the Kanryu mansion to try and rescue Miss Megumi. Ranma, stay here and if you see Sanosuke tell him what's going on, if he doesn't come back before sunset then I want you to head over to the police station and tell the police chief there what's going on. Just mention my name and he'll cooperate."

            "Yes sir," the girl responded before pulling herself back up strait.

            "The rest of you go get changed and then meet me at the front of the compound," Kenshin said.

            As the sun set behind her Megumi slowly walked towards the Kanryu estate with her head held down towards the ground. She couldn't run away, not from Kanryu, and not from opium. This hell of making drugs that killed people seemed to be a never-ending cycle of death, and it would take the blood of innocent people if she were to break it by suicide.

            "So then, what're you planning to do? Are you going back to Work for Kanryu Takeda?"

            The woman looked up and gave a surprised start as she saw the street fighter from earlier today standing at the gate. What in the world was he doing at a place like this? Was he going to kill her if she tried to go back to Kanryu? Well, if that was the case she couldn't let him, Megumi still had one more thing to do before she could die. "Don't worry, I don't plan on ever making that opium that killed your friend ever again. I promise I won't."

            Sanosuke removed himself from leaning against the wall and walked towards her with his hands in his pockets. "You know Kanryu isn't exactly going to be thrilled to hear that."

            "I just promised you didn't I?" she replied. "So don't get in my way. I'm in a hurry."

            "Don't be in such a hurry to die!" Sanosuke told her once she walked past the large man causing her to stop. "You've got Kenshin and Sanosuke too on your side. There's no need to try and be a martyr."

            She turned around and blinked at the man in confusion. "You too?"

            "Come on, the girls are waiting for you at the dojo, and somewhere out there, your family is waiting too," Sanosuke told her before trying to lead the woman away.

            Megumi turned away from the man and shook her head. "Thank you for your kind words," she said. "But even if I was able to find my family, how could I face them now? I'm a criminal who's part of an illegal operation. There's no way I could erase such a dirty past."

            "QUIT BEING SO SELF-RIGHTEOUS!" Sano yelled. "Do you think you're the only one in the world with a dirty past? If you die here, do you think it's going to bring my friend back to life? If you're alive then you can repent for what you've done. Someday, you will see your family again, but if you die then that one chance you had is gone."

            Megumi stood there as the man's words sunk in. Why was this man fighting to save her from herself? Because of her one of his friends had died? Should he want her dead?

            Tears started to form in the woman's eyes again, today must have been a record for her, she never thought she cried this much before. But, then again she never had that much to cry about either, life with Kanryu held no hope, and it was hard to mourn over loosing something when you were already at rock bottom.

            "Hey look out!"

            The doctor felt Sanosuke's arms grab her from behind and knock her away from her former position just before a large iron ball and chain came crashing down on the pavement where she had once stood.

            "Hey now I'm impressed, not many people could have dodged that one," an arrogant voice called out from behind them.

            As they both turned around Megumi could see a large man standing in top of the brick part of Kanryu's fence. He held the other end of the chain and a dark brown suit covered all but his hands and head. As for his body, it seemed to be incredibly muscular and his face had numerous scars on the jaw that seemed to resemble tiger stripes while two more formed a cross over his left eye while long brown hair cascaded down his back. "I'm the dungeon guard of the Edo Castle Oniwaban Group, Shikijou. Now if you don't hand the broad over to me quietly, then the next attack will crush all your bones to dust!"

            "Just try it loser," Sanosuke shouted.

            "So then, the Battousai along with a boy and a woman are going to challenge the Oniwaban group?"

            From her place near the door Ranma scowled as Saito blew out a puff of smoke while sitting on his desk. She didn't see how the guy could possibly like those things. Ok sure there was no surgeon general's warning in this day and age but a guy that good had to feel some depravation of lung capacity.

            "Yes, that's pretty much it," Ranma replied with squeezing her cape out. _Stupid freak rainstorms_, she thought. "The fighter for higher might have gotten there ahead of them, I'm not sure. But since they all left a good half-hour ago Kenshin and the others should be at the gates by now.

            "Alright," the policeman replied. "Go there and have a look around, I'll send in some men about half an hour past midnight to clean up any of the mess."

            Ranma nodded before flapping her cape a few times to make sure it was dry enough then turned around to leave after putting it on. "Oh, by the way," she said. "How is Tomoe doing at your place? You and your wife are taking good care of her I hope?"

            "My wife enjoys the company," the man replied. "Although, I do find it funny that she refers to you more as female than male, _Miss_ Saotome."

            "Don't make me have to hurt you Saito," Ranma said.

            The man just chuckled a bit as Ranma opened the door and called out for one of his assistants to come in and round up a small squad of police swordsman for an operation later tonight. 


	10. Chapter 9

See 1st chapter for disclaimer and beware! This sic contains spoilers

Chapter 9: Aoshi

            Up in his office Kanryu Takeda readjusted his glasses and took his eyes off the unconscious form of Megumi Takani to watch the scene below him nervously. A few moments ago that man in the karate outfit had defeated Shikijou, but was distracted long enough by the battle of the shortest member of the Oniwaban group to take back the drug dealer's woman. However even with Megumi in his possession, it didn't seem like he had the upper hand.

            Below on the ground Himura and his group had just finished off the last of Kanryu's haired men, an artillery squad armed with revolvers, the large chicken haired goon had thrown some spiky haired brat at them to knock over the commander while he and the Battousai attacked.

            Kanryu had no idea how this could be happening! The Battousai had no reason to be here, he had nothing to gain from this. "I don't get it," the entrepreneur mumbled. "He shouldn't be here, there's nothing for him to gain. Why in the world is Battousai the Manslayer here?"

            "If Himura the Battousai acted only what was in his own interest," Hannya said from his place against the wall, next to the window. "Then he would have been a high ranking officer in the government by now. Of course, people like you would never understand people like that."

            "What are you talking about?" Kanryu demanded from the ninja. "This isn't some stupid joke, you've got to do something. We're in such a dangerous situation now that-" as he looked back down towards the ground Kanryu cut off his speech, and even forgot the thoughts that went with it.

            _He_ was down there, looking at the rich businessman. But it wasn't just that, the way the Battousai was looking at him, it sent chills down his spine; as if all the fears of his mind had suddenly been brought forth and rolled into one red-haired man with a sword and a cross-shaped scar on his face. It was taking all of the man's willpower not to just run away from the window at that very moment.

            Finally, he spoke. "It's time to give yourself up Kanryu Takeda." It was a harsh voice, so much so that it made him back away from the window and cringe. "Come down here now, and bring Miss Megumi with you."

            It took some effort, but Kanryu eventually regained his composure. Well, if the Battousai wanted to talk then Kanryu was ready to deal. After all, there wasn't a man alive that couldn't be bought, it just took some time to find the price. Clapping his hands as if he were an audience Kanryu looked back down towards the manslayer. "My, it's beyond belief, to defeat so many people without even slowing down. But, it's just what I would expect from the legendary Battousai the Manslayer."

            Below him Kanryu could see the manslayer's eye twitch, in interest perhaps? Yes, the man obviously knew the way introductions to a bargain are made.

            "Hey, how did that guy know about Kenshin?" the owner of the Kamiya Dojo exclaimed.

            "The Oniwaban group probably did a little digging," Sanosuke told her.

            "I must say that I'm in complete awe of your swordsmanship abilities," Kanryu continued. "If you were to join with the Oniwaban group and myself, nothing would stand in our way. You could have anything you want, and because you're the legendary manslayer, I'll pay you fifty times the normal wage. How does-"

            "ARE YOU COMING DOWN OR AM I GOING UP?"

            Kanryu flinched as Himura came closer by a step. Well, he was the legendary manslayer, the man obviously needed more money. "Well then how about a hundred times more?"

            Another step. "T-Two hundred times more."

            "I told you," Hannya said in his usual emotionless tone. "He does not act out personal gain or profit."

            Spinning back to his ninja Kanryu scowled. "Shut up! I didn't ask for your opinion!" With the hired goon quelled for the moment the master of the house tuned back towards the window to see Himura only a few feet away from the front door. Well, there was always other options than direct confrontation. "Alright you win," Kanryu surrendered. "I will give you back Megumi Takani. But, I need some time for preparations. Give me one hour, I give you my word that I'll let you have her then. But you've got to promise not to come any closer."

            Instead of replying the Battousai simply walked away from the door and over towards one of the tall lamps that Kanryu kept in the courtyard of his home, probably for the extra light or something to lean up against. _I've done it, in one hour I'm sure I can retrieve the information I need from that woman. _

            However, instead of sitting down and resting, Himura drew his sword out of his sheath and while doing so, cut the base of the lamp clean through. The detached metal pole and stone flew away from Himura and over ten feet to smash into Kanryu's home thanks to the force of the Battousai's attack. "I'm coming up," he said in a heated tone, "and I'll take Miss Megumi myself! Why don't you just sit down an wait?"

            "Well now, all your underhanded trick did was make him angry," Hannya said.

            "That means you have no alternative except to fight Battousai the Manslayer," he said before turning towards the ninja. "I hope you understand Hannya, this is why I keep you Oniwaban guys around! I won't allow any mistakes like Aoshi did with Beshimi and Hyottoko."

            The demon faced ninja stepped away from the wall and moved over to Kanryu in a blur of movement. "Get this through your head Kanryu," the man said in an angry voice as he grabbed the man's tie. "Our leader is the _only_ one who commands the Oniwaban group. I have to recollection of swearing fidelity to the likes of you!"

            From his uncomfortable position Kanryu seethed in anger. What was this fool doing? Kanryu paid for the archaic ninja, Kanryu _owned_ him, and this was how the man acted. "How _dare_ you!"

            "The one person in this world or any other is our leader, Aoshi Shinomori, even if he were to order us to die, there is not one among us who would not do so without hesitation," Hannya said.

            "And just who do you think pays this glorious leader of yours such huge sums of money that keeps you people out of the cold?" Kanryu demanded. "You know very well that he wouldn't dare disobey me you idiotic lackey."

            "You dirty little," Hannya muttered before lowering the other man's body down to look at him face to face.

            From outside the room Aoshi listened in on their conversation, deciding that now would be a good time to intervene.

            He couldn't believe his good fortune. Before coming here the leader of the Oniwaban group had watched Himura's battle with Kanryu's men, or slaughter would be a more apt term. Kenshin Himura, the legendary Battousai the Manslayer, he was exactly like Aoshi and the others. Even in this day and age he carried a fighting spirit around with him that was rare even during the revolution.

            Finally, Aoshi had found something truly worth his time after looking for so many years, and something to justify what had happened to his men.

            Walking into the room he saw Hannya about to do physical harm to their employer, not that Aoshi cared of course, rats like Kanryu should know their place. But, he wanted Hannya to aim his attention elsewhere, and killing Kanryu would serve no purpose anyway. "The Battousai _will_ be defeated."

            Hearing his voice Hannya turned his attention away from Kanryu and to the leader of the Oniwaban group. "Leader," the ninja replied respectfully.

            "Ah, your timing is impeccable," Kanryu said after the member of the Oniwaban group dropped him.

            "However," Aoshi informed him. "Let me make this clear, we are not doing this for you. We are going to defeat Battousai the Manslayer to prove that we of the Oniwaban group were the strongest fighters of the revolution."

            "What are you saying?" Kanryu demanded.

            "Money hungry fools like you will never understand," Aoshi replied. "The Imperialists and the Oniwaban may have been on opposing sides during the war, but despite that, we are willing to respect that they were willing to die for their ideals. In this era of the Meiji, many of those same Imperialists have become rotten beyond recognition. But Himura the Battousai still seems to carry that old fighting spirit around with him. It's been ten years since we've seen someone like him. He is a worthy opponent, and as such he must die."

            "B-But naturally your first duty is my safety," Kanryu argued.

            Aoshi's face remained neutral as he looked at the man in front of him. "I don't really give a damn what happens to scum like you." With Kanryu disposed of for the moment Aoshi turned to Hannya. In most of the group's eyes he was considered to be the unofficial second in command of the Oniwaban and the most skilled under Aoshi himself. "Since their goal is to rescue Megumi Takani I will take her to the observatory on the third floor and wait for them there. Hannya, take position at the front door immediately"

            "B-but what about me?" Kanryu demanded with more than a bit of terror in his voice.

            "You can sit here and count your money for all I care Kanryu," Aoshi told them man as Hannya disappeared in a blur of speed and the leader of the group left the room with the unconscious form of Megumi Takani thrown over his shoulder before slamming the door.

            As Aoshi walked through the mansion with the woman his men had kidnapped he found himself being of two minds about his present condition. The first one, the one that he had been nurturing over the past few years since joining up with Kanryu, was excited. For the first time since he could remember, a true challenge lay ahead of him and the rest of his men. This was the sole reason they left the Aoyia all those years ago, and after waiting so long the chance to take the title of the strongest was finally theirs.

            The there was the other half of his mind, it was more like a shadow of himself during the revolution. That part of his mind was…disgusted. Here he was, holding a basically innocent woman hostage so that she could be forced to create drugs that killed people. In the olden days he would have never thought of doing such a thing. Getting the title of strongest was all well and good, but the way he was going about it…

            Well, can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs as the old saying went.

            But, another question came to Aoshi's mind. After this was all over, then what? Would he return to the Aoyia? He knew that Misao must miss him terribly. She was what now, sixteen? A young woman with a bright future ahead of-

            Blast, back to that girl again. Why did she always seem to haunt Aoshi's thoughts at the most inopportune times?

            Hearing a moan from behind, the ninja looked back to the floor of the observatory and saw that Megumi Takani was waking up. "Your friends from the Kamyia dojo have come to retrieve you," Aoshi told her.

            "What?" she mumbled. "Kenshin and the others are here?"

            "However," he warned her. "I suggest you not get your hopes up too high. I highly doubt that any of them will make it up this far anyway. What awaits you isn't rescue I'm afraid, but torture and death at the hands of Kanryu." As an afterthought Aoshi reached into his pocket and pulled out a small dagger in a sheath, according to Hannya Megumi had tried to use this same dagger to kill Kanryu before the ninja stopped her by taking it away the last second before it killed the man without the woman even noticing it. "Here, living in pain or dying in peace. You choose. Sorry, but this is all I can do for you."

            Ranma groaned in annoyance as she walked down the halls of the Kanryu compound cloaked in her invisibility technique. It was a waste of time of course since there was no one around. _Damnit, I was hoping to at least have SOME fun tonight, but this stupid place is so big that I can't even find that scar faced loser_, she thought irritably.

            Then there was also the small problem of this place's size, with all the twists and turns Ranma had no idea where she was. She never did like big houses, especially considering all of her rotten luck with the things over the years; like the Kuno estate or the time spent as a girl in that large mouthed French freak's mansion.

            So far the closest thing she had seen of Himura's handiwork was that unconscious ninja near the doorway wearing a broken demon mask. The encounter was…disturbing. Underneath the mask Ranma had seen that most of the man's face was completely covered by a brown, burnt flesh; and the stripes on his arms weren't just some sort of clothing like she had originally believed but an actual tattoo of some sort.  What kind of person would do something like that to himself, and for what reason?

            "Damn that Aoshi! Does a pet dog dare call his master scum? I'll have his head for this!"

            Hearing a voice around the corner Ranma stopped and moved to the side of the wall as if to blend in with the scenery and waited for the man to pass by. A second later a tall man wearing small rectangular glasses with short hair and a pointy nose came walking by in a white fancy western suit and tie. By the description Saito had given her, he was probably this Kanryu guy that had kidnapped Megumi.

            _Well now Mr. Takeda, just where are you off to in such a hurry?_ Ranma thought before following the man.

            Hannya, the ninja they had faced a few moments ago had been an interesting opponent. He was a Kenpo user, master level at least, and although Kenshin could predict his punches the red and black stripes tattooed on his arms made him keep misjudging the distance; the Shin-wan spell, that's what he called it. However he only had a slight bruise on his face and a cut on hi arm that was nearly closed up to show for the fight so it wasn't that big a hindrance.

            Now, with Hannya defeated they had come to the middle of the mansion's first floor looking for the stairs.

            With two quick swings of his sword Kenshin sliced apart the door in front of him and kicked away the dead piece of wood to reveal what appeared to be the main stair way to the upper floors; it was one of those fancy kind that branched out into two different sets of stairs after the first incline. There was also two doors to the side of the stairs, but the option of going down those routs was taken when a group of ten bodyguards with wooden swords ran out to face Kenshin and the rest of his entourage.

            "This is as far as you go," one of the men shouted. The threat however went completely unnoticed and was immediately thought of as empty when all ten of the fighters literally stood there quaking with fear.

            "These guys look like they're ready to cry and run away," Yahiko said as he charged towards him with his bamboo practice sword.

            "Well let's get started then." From behind the boy swordsman, Sanosuke reached over and grabbed Yahiko by the collar of his outfit then drew the kid back. "Sanosuke Sagara special attack: Myojin Missile!" Before Yahiko could do anything Sano flung the boy into the middle of the crowd and a second later Yahiko was on his feet trying to fight off all the guys at once.

            Kenshin sweatdropped a little at the sight and choice of attack but didn't slow down.

            "Kenshin, you and Sanosuke go on ahead," Kaoru told the red-haired swordsman.

            "Ok, we'll leave these guys to you," Sano replied while both the manslayer and street fighter rushed past the crowd and up the stairs, leaving the kendo teacher and student to deal with the small mob.

            Once they had ascended the stairs Kenshin opened the door at the top and entered the room at the same time as Sanosuke. The place was huge, with more than enough room for a small army to fight and two chandeliers hung from the ceiling that was over fifteen feet above Kenshin's head. At the other end of the ballroom stood a very tall man in a large light gray overcoat with short black hair and almost emotionless green eyes. Underneath the jacket he had on a form fitting dark purple suit and matching gloves that covered everything but the top of his neck and end of his fingers.

            "So," Sanosuke said. "You're the one they call leader."

            _This is the leader of the Edo Castle Oniwaban Group,_ Kenshin thought. _Aoshi Shinomori. _He had a cold, dispassionate aura around him, like ice. "Where are Kanryu Takeda and Miss Megumi?"

            "If you want to know anything," Aoshi said. "Then ask your questions with that reversed blade sword, Himura the Battousai, and I will give you my answers with this." Aoshi then pulled back his jacket to reveal a small blade and sheath on his left hip. It was a short weapon, only about a foot and a half, a kodachi.

            "You're going to fight us with some puny little knife?" Sano asked with skepticism. "Quit fooling around!"

            "No," Aoshi told him. "I will only be fighting the Battousai. You are unimportant."

            "What'd you say?" Sanosuke said before raising his fist.  "I think I'm more then enough to beat you _Leader_. Just like a beat Shikijou."

            "Wait Sano!"

            The big man didn't seem to listen to Kenshin's warning before rushing towards his opponent in a charge. Aoshi avoided his first attack by turning to the side slightly. There wasn't any change in his expression at all as Sano spun around for another attack while the force from his first blow still had Aoshi's hair blowing in the wind. The second time Sano attacked Aoshi simply stepped back once and while the momentum from his punch carried Sanosuke forward the leader of the Oniwaban gave the street fighter a chop to the back of the head. His attack, combined with Sano's momentum sent Sanosuke sliding along the ground and halfway out the door while Kenshin looked on with a bit of worry.

            Aoshi had beaten Sano with just one attack; even Kenshin hadn't been able to do that during his battle with the street fighter the first time they met.

            A moment later the footsteps of Miss Kaoru and Yahiko could be heard and they rushed over to the door, surprised at what they saw. With them to look after Sano Kenshin turned his full attention back to Aoshi and frowned.

            "Now he knows his irrelevance," the man said. Aoshi pulled back his coat again and this time reached down to draw his kodachi. "So now it's you and me Battousai. I hope you're ready."

            "A kodachi," Yahiko muttered.

            "Yes, it's a weapon that's between a full sword and a dagger," Kaoru said. "It's less powerful than a sword because of the length, but because it's lighter you can maneuver it easily. So it's great for defense. It's a sword that can be used like a shield. But, offensively he's at a disadvantage."

            _No_, Kenshin thought as he studied his opponent. While it was true that a kodachi was weaker than a katana, there was something about Aoshi that said he doesn't favor defense as much as Miss Kaoru thought. "What's wrong Battousai?" the man asked. "Do you wish me to attack then?"

            "Wha-" Kenshin mumbled as Aoshi charged him.

            The man's first attack was blocked as Kenshin countered with a Battoujitsu strike, or at least that's what Kenshin thought before a blur on the edge of his vision alerted him to movement right before the toe of Aoshi's right shoe slammed into his scarred cheek.

            That what was off about him. _He's using Kenpo, like Hannya_, Kenshin thought as Aoshi regained his balance after his kick and then followed it up with a rapid series of seven punches to the softer area's of Kenshin's chest before knocking him away and into the air with a strong uppercut.

            The swordsman quickly flipped around to recover himself and land on his feet before charging off again. He couldn't let Aoshi get the drop on him like that again, the second time Aoshi might follow up with a strike from his kodachi when Kenshin was knocked off balance.

            Using all the speed he dared, Kenshin made three quick jabs with his sword that Aoshi deflected easily with his kodachi before knocking him back as the man countered the fourth attack.

            "Ok, now I see," Kenshin said. "You have a perfect defense with your kodachi, and using that weapon as a shield you attack using the same Kenpo style as Hannya."

            "You are basically correct," Aoshi replied. "But that theory has one major flaw: Hannya is the one that uses the same style as _me_."

            "What?" Kenshin mumbled. Suddenly Kenshin's body started to feel sore all over. The wounds from Aoshi's first attack that he had been ignoring up until now decided to make themselves known as Kenshin relaxed his muscles a bit; causing him to spit out some blood. 

            "The difference in the speed and power of a master and his apprentice are completely different," Aoshi said while Kenshin doubled over while spitting out some more blood that filled his mouth. "And if you think they're the same, then you end up like that."

            "No way," Yahiko exclaimed.

            From his position on the ground Kenshin looked up at the man sanding above him. Even now his aura was still the same cold sheet of ice that covered him from the beginning of the fight. _A man of this much power, what is he doing this for?_

            Ranma frowned as she continued to follow the idiot down through the corridors of his house, wondering just why the hell she was even bothering. Up above the redhead could feel two battle auras fighting it out, and only an armature would not realize that one of them was Kenshin's. So then if she knew the Battousai's location why was she still following Kanryu?

            Idles curiosity perhaps? They had walked into some kind of hidden basement awhile ago, and she was wondering just what the heck did he have that was so important that he kept it down here.

            As they made another turn it seemed that Ranma was finally going to get her answer. In front of her now was a large door with various and expensive looking locks. She resisted the urge to tap her foot in impatience while the drug dealer slowly went through a ring of keys, removing one padlock at a time.

            _Oh the hell with it. I've never been one for waiting anyway_, Ranma thought as the insanely slow man just got done with the second lock in a set of ten. 

            Taking off her hood and throwing her cape to the back so that it uncovered her arms, Ranma reached forward to cover the mans mouth before dragging him down to the ground in a headlock. "Hello there, Mr. Takeda," she said while the man tried to shout in surprise. "Might I have a word with you?"

            Aoshi stood over his red haired opponent, trying to hide his disappointment; he knew that the Battousai was better than this. So why didn't he show his true abilities? Why? What was wrong with him? "You know Battousai, I have nothing against you personally. But, as the man who was known as the strongest of the revolution, I will strike you down this day."

             "Well," Kenshin replied before standing back on his feet. "It appears as if you and the Oniwaban are not fighting for the sake of Kanryu, that it doesn't. So, would you mind telling me what you _are_ fighting for?"

            "Back during the revolution, if the Imperial army had decided to engage the regime in Edo, there would have been no doubt that the victory would have gone to the Shogunate," Aoshi explained. "The Oniwaban would have set fires all over Edo, and then in the chaos caused by that destruction we would have slaughtered the imperial army. The Imperialists would have lost control, and the regime would have crushed them. That is how it would have happened."

            "You lair," the boy behind the Battousai shouted. Yahiko Myojin, if Hannya's information about the people at the Kamiya dojo was correct. "That wouldn't have happened even if they _were_ in Edo!"

            "Oh really?" Aoshi asked while turning his head towards the child. "If you want, I can prove it to you, by recreating that even right here in Tokyo."

            "What did you say?" Kaoru demanded.

            "But," Aoshi continued. "Doing something like that now would be pointless. There is only one thing that we of the Oniwaban care about, and that is the title of the strongest fighters of the revolution, and by defeating the Battousai in combat we shall have that title. It is the only vindication we need."

            "I see," Kenshin replied. "Back then, many people threw their lives away in the heat of battle, and despite their differences or the fact that they were on opposite sides they all risked their lives fighting for their beliefs and the people's happiness. But you're different, all that drives you is a desire to fight that is as cold as ice! Even now you are bringing pain to people who do not deserve it all for your selfish reasons. And as a wanderer who has devoted his life to helping people, I CAN NOT ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE!"

            "Try and stop me then," Aoshi told him.

            The Battousai moved in a blur of motion as he jumped above Aoshi's head in a downward strike that the Leader blocked. Kenshin then flipped around and put his sword away fro a Battoujitsu strike that Aoshi also countered with his kodachi defense before the redhead jumped away too fast for a follow-up attack.

            The battle continued this way: Kenshin using his sword to its fullest length so that Aoshi couldn't get close enough for a counterattack to be any effective. The swordsman did make one little mistake a few moments later but Aoshi was only able to scratch his smooth cheek with a quick jab.

            Then the Battousai suddenly changed tactics, jumping in close and swinging with a powerful downward strike that Aoshi blocked before landing a haymaker to his right cheek that sprawled him out on the ground for a moment. As the man used his sword to pick himself up it told Aoshi all he needed to know, slowly but surely the Battousai was being worn down from the battle, and would give out soon.

            "You should know by now that it's impossible to penetrate my defenses," Aoshi informed him. "Now stand up, Battousai."

            "Kenshin!" the woman behind him cried out.

            "I'm alright Miss Kaoru," he assured her before getting back on his feet all the way. "I have to say that I think I've finally found a way past the defense of his kodachi."

            "Then I'd have to say, you're bluffing," Aoshi replied. "But…you're not the kind of man who would bluff when it comes to something like that." He started to approach his opponent for another round of battle. "So let's see this counter attack of yours."

            When it was right up on the man Kenshin raised his sword for an attack and brought it down. "Too slow!" However as the two swords connected, Kenshin's sword's direction twisted slightly that should be impossible for a katana and ended up on the bottom of the two sword pile while Aoshi's kodachi slid down the back blade of Kenshin's weapon. _What?_

            The Battousai, he was holding his sword at the bottom of the blade where it was dull, and although his hand was dripping with blood it was mostly unhurt. As he more than made clear when he twisted his wrist to free his sword and then slammed the butt of the handle into Aoshi's throat to knock him back and make the taller man grasp his neck in pain.

            "I couldn't beat you before because my blade is longer and thus less maneuverable than a kodachi," Kenshin said. "So I had to even up the length by holding the base, that I did."

            "Yes I see," Aoshi replied. "Yes, this is the true power of the legendary Battousai the Manslayer. For showing me this, I will defeat you with the ultimate attack of the Leader of the Oniwaban group." Aoshi twirled his blade around so the tip was facing away from his body rather than towards it. That done he relaxed at let his ki flow out from his weapon to all around his body.

            Now normally, when a swordsman fought anyone, they would keep their emotions in check and only channel them into their sword to increase its power, or towards their opponent to throw them off balance with a wave of their power. But Aoshi's ultimate attack worked differently than that, instead of focusing it, Aoshi spread his ki out all around him and then made it flux wildly. To anyone watching, it would almost create one or two after images that floated around the fighter, making him almost, if not impossible to hit. That, combined with the fluidity of motion from Aoshi's movements, created the perfect defense.

            Even the Battousai's Hiten Mitsurugi style was useless as Aoshi watched the man make swing after swing in an attempt to strike the taller swordsman down. He couldn't even compensate for it as while one strike was close to the Leader, the one that came right after it was practically a mile off.

            Finally, Aoshi saw his opening when Kenshin swung and ended up facing the completely opposite direction. The man realized his error, but right as Kenshin turned around Aoshi spun and went on the offensive, he felt a slight drag towards the end of his triple slash attack but it worked out fine in the end, carving three huge gashes across Kenshin's chest and seeing them erupt in a spray of blood.

            "Kenshin!"

            "Not one of my opponents has ever survived that attack," Aoshi said before lowering his sword.

            Finally, it was over. Aoshi of the Oniwaban group had killed Kenshin Himura, the Battousai, and in so doing proved something that he needed the world to see all along. The Oniwaban were indeed the strongest fighters of the revolution. It was the proof that all the sacrifices his men made were not meaningless, that _they_ were not meaningless.

            "You're going to pay for this," a boy's voice behind him said. "You, you're getting away with this Aoshi! Even if I have to die, I'll make sure you pay for this!"

            Aoshi looked back to the boy with his usual cold demeanor. He had to admit, he was impressed by the boy's determination. Even though he was young Aoshi could tell the child meant every word he just said. It would be a shame to destroy such a fighting spirit before it had a chance to mature. "There is no need to rush to you death. Just walk away."

            "You shut up!" Yahiko shouted.

            "Yahiko…

            "Yahiko, you are important to the Kamiya Kasshin Style as it's successor…"

            For the first time in months Aoshi's eyes widened in surprise. That voice that was coming from the other side of the room…it was, it was the Battousai's! But how? Aoshi had landed a direct hit with his Kiten Kebu, and _no one_ could survive that!

            "I can not let you die in a place like this," Kenshin continued as Aoshi turned around and saw the man standing up with the help of his sword. God, what in the name of heaven was this man? How could he not only survive, but also still be in the shape to fight after all of what Aoshi had done to him?

            "There is also no way that I can afford to die in a place like this either."

            "I can't believe that didn't kill you," Aoshi said with more than a touch of awe in his voice.

            In answer Kenshin pulled up his sheath and shook it a little. "Actually, what your attack killed was-" he didn't need to finish as the sheath lost three pieces of its top and fell to the floor.

            "Ok now I get it," Sanosuke said. "Kenshin pulled his sheath up at the last moment, and although it couldn't block Aoshi's attack it did take some of the power out of Aoshi's swing."

            "I should have expected something like this from the man known as the strongest of the manslayers," Aoshi told him. "You truly are a worthy opponent. But the Oniwaban will be the ones to claim the title of the strongest, prepare yourself!" With that Aoshi once again moved into his ultimate attack stance. _I know what's coming, so I won't miss this time, and after all this he has to be nearly drained, I cannot fail again!_

            "NOW IT'S OVER BATTOUSAI!"

            There was a bright flash as Aoshi's kodachi connected with Kenshin's reversed blade sword and the Battousai's weapon was sent flying into the air. But, down on the ground Kenshin stood there holding the Leader's kodachi between his palms while Aoshi wore a look of shock upon his face.

            "There is one moment when you're off guard when you use your Kaiten-kenbu and switch from a defensive stance to an offensive one," Kenshin said before looking up into the other man's eyes. "Aoshi…if you truly wish the title of strongest then I shall gladly give it to you.

            "But right now, there are people waiting for my help, people who can share happiness and sadness with, and those people, AND THOSE PEOPLE ARE A THOUAND TIMES MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN YOU!" he shouted before driving the handle of Aoshi's on kodachi into the taller man's throat.

            Aoshi could only marvel at the situation as he coughed up a fit of blood wit hthe Kodachi still pressed against his throat. He, Aoshi Shinomori, the strongest of the Oniwaban as well as the Leader…_I'm going, to lose? ME?_

            "Now don't be foolish," Kenshin said. "Stand down Aoshi!"

            "No," he whispered. "NOT YET!" Swinging his free hand up he caught Kenshin in an uppercut and sent him flying back while Aoshi himself fell to the floor before darkness over took him. For a brief second, Aoshi could have sworn that he felt a surge of ki from far beneath him, but it was probably just his imagination

            Sitting up on the floor Kenshin tried to keep the world from spinning. What the hell did it take to put this guy Aoshi down for the count?

            As he studied the man Kenshin felt something strange coming from beneath him. A ki signature, it was cold and dark, was there another Oniwaban member they had yet to account for coming? 

            Hearing his name being called out Kenshin snapped himself out of his daze and looked up to see Miss Kaoru and the others running towards him, over Aoshi's fallen body. Kenshin just hoped he stayed down this time. As they got close to him he assured them that he was ok then asked about Aoshi.

            "I don't know," Kaoru said. "He looks…dead."

            "No, he's just unconscious," Kenshin assured her. "But he'll probably have some trouble breathing for awhile. It was his own relentless fighting spirit that led to his own defeat that it was." After standing up Kenshin looked down at the boy standing in front of him and then placed his hand on the boy's head. When I was nearly defeated by Aoshi's Kaiten Kenbu, your words really meant a lot to me Yahiko."

            "Well, you know…" the boy replied while rubbing his nose. Kenshin could only stand there as he practically saw the boy's confidence, or more precise his ego, increase dramatically. "All right! Now all we have to do is catch Kanryu and save Megumi! COME AND GET US KANRYU!"

            _Note to self_, Kenshin thought while a drop of sweat appeared on his head. _Don't do  that EVER again._

            A second later as if in answer to Yahiko's challenge, the door to the stairs burst open, revealing all the other members of Aoshi's Oniwaban group. Then, a moment later Aoshi himself got to his feet.

            "Oh you got to be kidding," Sanosuke mumbled. "I've heard of stacking the odds but isn't this a little overdoing it?"

            Once again fully conscious Aoshi Shinomori looked at his opponent and the man named Sanosuke.

            Why? Why was he still alive? It couldn't have been over then minutes since he was knocked out judging by the pain, but even ten seconds was too long to be helpless when facing off against the Battousai. "Why?" Aoshi demanded in a cold tone. "Why didn't you finish me off?"

             "I'm a wanderer now that I am," Kenshin told him. "I am not a manslayer anymore. Aoshi, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so obsessed with being the best?" Aoshi did his best not to scowl at the question. How could Battousai the Manslayer, someone who had lived through the revolution ask him that? "In this Meiji Era, don't you think the title of being the strongest warrior means almost nothing? There are many other places that your skills would be beneficial instead of harmful to others?"

            Aoshi just glared at the man.

            "It was for us."

            All eyes in the room looked up and over to the man who had spoken. It was Hannya. "Among the members of the Oniwaban group, there were those who had been able to find new ways of life. But, look at us…we have sacrificed our normality to become the best of the Oniwaban, there was no going back for us; and as such there was no place in this society for people whose only skills revolved around fighting."

            "But despite that," the scarred, muscular man Shikijou continued. "Our Leader never abandoned us. He even turned down offers to be a big army official for the new regime so he could find us a new place to live."

            Aoshi gritted his teeth at their praises, he did not deserve such things. "It was because I was the one who made you all into members of the Oniwaban group, into what you are now. It was the least I could do to make sure that all the scarifies you made, that your lives, were not for nothing. That you would be the ones to be graced with the title of the strongest that ever was.

            "Battousai…finish me off."

            Aoshi heard the gasps of the group behind him and some of them moved forward but he stopped their advance with a look. "No, let this be enough." With his group quelled Aoshi turned back to Himura and the others to address them. "Finish me off, because if you don't then I swear I will come back again, and again, for as long as I can."

            "Very well," Kenshin replied. "If you wish then you may keep challenging me until you're satisfied. However! This battle is between you and me, you will not involve anyone else in this, agreed?"

            Hajime Saito took a puff of his cigarette then looked at the men in front of him that filled the small chamber. Fifty police swordsmen, armed with those crappy western style sabers and another ten men armed with guns. He knew that he probably wouldn't need half this number except to carry away the prisoners and any evidence; he could have done all the actual fighting himself if he wanted to. 

            "Now then are we clear?" he asked. "Make a standard sweep of the parameter then find the man Kanryu-" He didn't get to finish his recap of orders as he felt a slight surge of ki followed by window a dozen feet away on his left side suddenly exploding inward as a body flew through it.

            Whoever it was, the man was wrapped in rope at the waist and legs. As far away as he was and with poor lighting Saito couldn't recognize the man and didn't react to it as some off the officers ran over to examine him.

            "Captain Fujita! There's, a uh, letter for you sir," one of the men called out uneasily. "I think."

            Hearing his alias Saito took another puff of his cigarette and walked over to see just what the gender changer had done now. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Ranma, he had demonstrated his stealth abilities to Saito more than once and the manslayer had barely felt anything a second ago when the window was destroyed. Well ok the second a third times had just been little tricks to amuse his daughter since she had never seen Ranma do that before, how the hell a guy like that could be the legendary Phantom of Kyoto was beyond the Wolf of Mebu, then again there was also the Battousai…maybe just all the former Imperialist assassins were weird.

            "Let me see that," Saito ordered before pulling the paper away from the policeman in front of him. He unfolded the note and frowned at what was inside…Ranma either wrote this in a big hurry, or he _really_ needed to improve his handwriting.

            "Dear Mr. Fuji," he mumbled while his eyebrow twitched. "This man is one Kanryu Takeda, suspected opium dealer, just wait for the bruises to heal if you need to know for sure." He looked down at the mangled body on the floor as it moaned in pain; his entire face was black and blue. "Anyway in addition to dealing opium it turns out Mr. Kanryu has been storing a cache of illegal weapons from rifles to gatling guns, for instructions to where he hid his armory."

            _Idiot,_ Saito thought. Now people would be wondering just how the hell was someone able to sneak up close enough to a police station with a prisoner in tow without being seen. Keeping _this_ out of the paper was going to take some doing. Well, he could deal with this later. "All right change of plans."

            As the sun rose over the mountains Aoshi walked silently along the road, the other members of the Oniwaban group trailing in his wake. They hadn't spoken a word since leaving Kanryu's mansion, leaving their leader to be in deep thought. 

            After the battle with the Battousai had concluded the two groups went their separate ways. While Himura's team went to retrieve the Megumi woman, Aoshi went to find Kanryu; h had one last order of business with the scum before leaving town: killing the man.

            A quick search of the premises and Hannya discovered a secret chamber to a hidden basement that he had previously overlooked. At first Aoshi had just thought it was some escape route for Kanryu, but when they came to the end of the passageway he had found himself dead wrong.

            It was actually some kind of vault that Kanryu was using to hold all sorts of firearms; apparently he had decided to become not just a merchant of poison, but death too. However the only trace of the man they could find was some blood running down the wall and a few puddles of it on the ground. Judging by how it was smeared on the wall, someone had come along during Aoshi's battle with Himura and rammed the weasels face into it.

            But the mystery of who it was could wait till later, right now Aoshi had another thing on his mind.

            "Leader."

            Hearing his name, or title actually, Aoshi turned around to face his men. "What is it Hannya?"

            "Leader, I know it is not my place to question you," he said with reluctance. "But I and the others are curious to what you plan for all of us to do now? If you wish to have another battle with the Battousai, then wouldn't it be better for the Oniwaban to remain in Tokyo. If he is a wanderer now, then by leaving we might miss news of his leaving the city, and if so then there is no telling where he might resurface."

            "Himura will not be going anywhere except to Hell when I send him there," Aoshi told him in a level tone. "As for your question, _we_ are not going anywhere?"

            "Leader?" Beshimi asked with curiosity.

            "As I promised, this shall be between myself and the Battousai, and _just_ between us," Aoshi told them. "I need to increase my skills if I am to defeat him, and to do that I can't have anything, or _anyone_ holding me back. Training with any of you would be a waste of time."

            "We…understand Lord Aoshi," Hannya replied with a touch of sadness in his voice, anyone else would have missed it, but Aoshi knew his men almost better than they knew themselves.

            "…But," Aoshi continued. "There is something that I need you to do. I want you all to return to Kyoto, and tell the others to wait one year. I promise you, in one year or less I promise you that I shall return with or without the flower of the strongest for you all to hold, and…if she is still waiting for me, tell it to her as well."

            All of them men stood motionless for a moment, and then nodded before Aoshi turned around and walked off into the forest. _I will have the title of the strongest Kenshin Himura, no matter what it takes I will defeat you._

Preview of Next Chapter: Finally, with all that Oniwaban business over the Kamiya Kasshin style can finally start training it's newest student; too bad se seems even more sexist and weird than Yahiko! In fact, during one of the sparring sessions with his master she 'accidentally' punts him through the wall because of an outburst, and it's going to be raining later tonight so they need to get the dojo fixed up. But because of this now the two girls are left without anyone to play with. Well, that's ok they're willing to listen to a story while the rest of us work, hey Kenshin, do you know any good ones?

Next time on Ranma ½: A Kyoto Ghost Story

Ranma: I don't believe this! Kenshin's known as a big bad manslayer and people run in terror at the sound of his name because of what happened during the revolution, and all I do is scare little kids? I need to get a new agent. 


	11. Side Story 2

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

Side Story 1a: The Mind of A Murderer: Ranma's Heart

            I lay awake in the dojo, listening to the sound of the rain beating upon the roof in a furry as if it's angry at not being able to make me change back into a girl. As the lighting flashes in the window I readjust my blanket and position on the futon that Kaoru gave me to sleep on to get more comfortable then sigh.

            Off in the corner I can hear Yahiko snoring, and on another side of the room Kenshin's immobile silhouette is leaned up against the back wall. I don't think he's asleep, I don't think that guy ever really sleeps. It's scary how much we're alike, both physical and mental. I wonder, does he have the same problem as I? Deep within his soul does his manslayer's heart still beat with the blood of his victims like mine?

            No, it's best not to think about that anymore. I am no longer Sakura, she died in China.

            I sigh softly then try to move onto other thoughts.

            With as much energy as I've used up today I should be sound asleep, but that adrenaline rush from earlier tonight is still in its high. Damn teenage emotions, even after having them for over a decade I still haven't gotten used to them. I'm still as easily excited or as quick to anger as ever since…before my arrival here.

            It's hard for me to think of myself as a stranger here now. I mean, in this world I seem to fit in better than I ever did in Nerima; Martial arts are commonplace, and the cities have a much more pleasing rural atmosphere than my version of Tokyo. Then there is the greatest reason why this time feels like my home: Tomoe.

            If anyone had told me that I would be raising a little girl by myself fifteen years ago I would have fallen down laughing, and so would everyone that I had known at the time. The first time I saw that child…no, I don't what to think about that; even now I'm disgusted with myself for what I did. But, as much as it sickens me, if I actually had the chance to I'd do it over again, I would…just to have her.

            Tomoe, her namesake saved my sanity during the revolution, and the girl herself saved my soul from being crushed by a frozen glacier of ice that was my own making.

            Every time I would think about fighting I would think back to her. Remembering those big pink eyes that always seemed to be locked on me during that trip back to Japan from China gave even my manslayer's heart pause. An assassin who was considered like the very wrath of god; who no sword, gun, or Shinsen Gumi member could bring down, was stopped cold by a baby in a wicker basket. But she didn't stop there, the warmth and brightness of her smile, the sound of her laugh, the way she looked at me after waking up from a nape or when I held her in my arms, they shattered the frozen chrysalis that I had wrapped my heart in over the years into a million pieces.

            Then as the years past, I found myself being able to smile and laugh again. Who wouldn't be able to with a child such as Tomoe? Seeing her walk for the first time, hearing her first words, her laughter; all these things and more gave my life a whole new meaning.

            I was no longer a brash martial artist with a cocky attitude who fought everything with two fists that looked at him the wrong way, or a deadly hitokiri who killed anything that got in her way simply because they were there, I was Ranma Saotome: mother and father to Tomoe Saotome, and that title gave me more pride and happiness than Ranma Saotome: heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes, or Sakura of the Choshu: Master of the Senken, ever did.

            As the years passed by, for once I was glad that the Meiji Revolution had taken place, and finally understood what Katsura talked so feverishly about all those years ago. Without the equality brought by this new era I doubt that I would have been able to stay in Japan with little Tomoe; not that she still doesn't face problems today, but ten years ago it would have been a hundred times worse.

            That, I realize is why I'm here tonight. Helping Saito with his 'evaluation' of the Battousai. Not because of some weird sense of justice like Saito, or need to protect everyone like Himura, I am here for just one person: my daughter. I am here to help keep these peaceful times going for her sake, and _only_ hers, not for the nameless masses.

            I would kill for her, I would die for her, and I will do everything in my power to make sure she has a future to look forward to. I only hope it is enough.

            With weariness settling in I close my eyes, and dream of happy days to come.

Side Story 1b: The Mind of a Murderer: Kenshin's Soul

            I lay with my back up against the wall and sword propped up against my shoulder, it's an old habit, but those are the hardest to break.

            Outside the rain is coming down hard. I hate the rain, not as much as I hate the snow but I hate it all the same, it reminds me of when I met _her_. It was outside a bar, she was slightly drunk, and I had just finished killing a man right in front of her. She had seen me kill; every part of my logical mind had told me that I should strike her down.

            I am glad that I didn't.

            Afterwards, just being around her seemed to take a great weight off my shoulders. For a short time after I met her, I stopped being the Hitokiri Battousai, and became Kenshin Himura again, a kind fifteen year old boy who didn't know what he was getting into when he joined with Katsura.

            I believe that was quite possibly the happiest time of my life, even with all the chaos and death surrounding me, I was happy. 

            But as all things it was not forever. I learned from her journal of how she was the fiancée of the only man to leave a mark upon me; the mark that now accompanies her own and makes me so recognizable. Of how she yearned for revenge thanks to my actions, and her self loathing for persuading her childhood love to go Kyoto and make a name for himself in the shogunate's eyes.

            Yet…even with all that I had done to her, she still fell in love with me. _ME_, Kenshin Himura, not Battousai the Manslayer. In a way, she did get her revenge by doing what no other man had ever done, what no other person _could_ do, she killed the Battousai, by forcing Kenshin to live again.

            It was as if she forced the winter that had frozen my heart away, and replaced it with the warm and gentle spring.

            But then the seasons changed once again, and with her kidnapping the seasons of my heart became as summer, full of hot rage and a burning hatred for the shogunate. That day when I followed them through the mountain trail, even though it was snowing I was covered in fiery beads of sweat; intent on saving my beloved from the treacherous bastards who had toyed with her emotions to weaken me.

            Then, that day on the ice-cold mountain, the seasons changed once again. She died, sliced in half by my own blade when she threw away her life to save my own. That day I became as the fall; broken, detached from the tree of life.

            Yet I did not join her in death, I could not, she would not have wanted that. She wanted me to live my life to its fullest, to be happy, and I could not do that in the land of the dead.

            So, I became as the winter again: cold, hard, and dispassionate. I killed anything and anyone who dared stand against me and my quest to make the new order a reality.

            I never was able to take my revenge upon Iizuka. It was strange to think that he was the real traitor. A goofy man with droopy eyes who delivered the envelopes of death to me from Katsura. He was supposedly killed by the Phantom; strange, it was the only time that Katsura even acknowledged that manslayer's existence.

            After I was finished with the war the spring came again. With the oath I gave to my beloved on her deathbed I cling to the joy and warmth of spring. It has been that way for over ten years now.

            But…even as I lie here in the dojo in the midst of my new friends, I can feel the winter closing in. Jinei may have right, a manslayer is a manslayer until the day he dies. I can only pray that he was mistaken; and hope that Miss Kaoru and the others can help me prove him wrong as Tomoe did so long ago.

            With weariness settling in I close my eyes, and dream of happier days that were. 


	12. Chapter 10

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

            "And so by the time you got to the Battousai his battle with the entire Oniwaban group was already over and they were heading to get that Megumi Takani woman," Saito summarized the report Ranma had told him after arriving before he took another inhale of his cigarette then tapped the waste into an ash try sitting on his desk. "You shouldn't have wasted your time with Kanryu and simply followed Himura as soon as he left, you're worthless to me if you can't gather the information I require."

            Looking up from his desk and over to the corner Saito saw the man he was talking to didn't seem the lest bit disturbed by Saito's statement and annoyance in him; something that few men in the world could do. But Ranma was one of those men, or women depending on the weather and his luck at the time, another warrior from the revolution whose skills matched or perhaps even surpassed Saito's own.

            "I think you expect a little too much of me," Ranma replied. "I hate to admit it but the invisibility technique of my Sen Ken is far from perfect, and with the extra sensory training that the Hiten Mitsurugi gives I'm quite reluctant to test it seeing as how if he is able to counter it my cover will be completely blown. Besides, if you want a recount of the fight I can just ask that Yahiko boy about it, I've seen enough idol worship in my day that the kid will be more than happy to tell me every single stupid detail."

            "Fine then," the policeman told the boy before standing up and grabbing his hat in preparation to head home and get some rest from staying up all night. "Oh, one more thing. From now on I want you to make verbal reports to me once a week unless something important comes along."

            As Saito started to walk out of the office Ranma gave him a look that said the younger fighter was completely lost. "But, wouldn't it just be easier for me to write out a report so you can read over it?"

            Saito gave the boy an annoyed look then reached into his pocket and pulled out the note that had been left on Kanryu's body the same night. "Not if you're the one who wrote this. Saotome, you may have been one of the best manslayers in Kyoto but your daughter could probably outclass you when it comes to handwriting." When Ranma just closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile Saito knew that nothing was going to come of his conversation so he started to move on before something seemed to click in the back of his mind.

            Kyoto. Come to think of it, now that he knew that the manslayer that was Ranma was indeed real and not some story made up to scare little kids to behave…"Oh, by the way Saotome, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Saito said.

            "What's that?" the shorter man replied before following him out into the hallway.

            "It's about that little legend concerning you near the end of the war," the continued. "You know the one, that little superstition involving ca-"

            "Yes," Ranma said forcefully, quickly cutting Saito off in mid word. "Don't get an ideas, and never speak of it again!"

Chapter 10: A Kyoto Ghost Story

            It was a fine day that it was as Kenshin sat in the back yard of the Kamiya dojo while his hands were busy doing the laundry. It anyone watching it might seem strange that a former manslayer, the Battousai in fact, was doing such domestic chores such as cleaning and cooking.

            In truth, he enjoyed doing them, because it was helping others, and a tie to who Kenshin Himura really was. Tomoe had once told him that he could have been happy if he never picked up a sword and became a farmer instead. She was right on the last count, but Kenshin really didn't think he could just sit by and let the suffering of others happen even if he never was trained in the Hiten Mitsurugi Style.

            Helping to end people's suffering was part of his nature, but it was also that same idea and nature that created the Battousai in the first place.

            Shaking his head Kenshin cleared away those thoughts before they took him down that road of darker memories and went back to the simple task of washing the laundry. Taking the red shirt out of the wash and drying it out, Kenshin looked at all of the matching shirts on the clothesline and shook his head. Ranma sure had a lot of Chinese clothes.

            Yahiko sat in the dojo with droopy eyes as he listened to Miss Ugly Raccoon, aka Kaoru, explain the basics of the Kamiya Kasshin Style to a currently male Ranma while doing that boring visualize and breathe routine. It didn't help any that he and the new guy had just spent two hours strait cleaning the place after being woken up early; well correction, Yahiko had been woken up early, Ranma had been up a little before sunrise for some morning jog he usually did. Kaoru said that the cleaning was part of the training but Yahiko thought that she was just looking for some free labor.

            "Ok then," Kaoru said as she stood up from her previous position on the floor. "Now that you're ready Ranma I want you to do some sparring since you said you already know some martial arts." When no response came a frown creased Kaoru's face and she looked back down. "Ranma?"

            In response to his name the other soon to be swordsman in the dojo simply fell over to the side before mumbling something incoherent and going back to his usual level of unconsciousness.

            As Kaoru fell to the floor with a loud bang and Yahiko rolled around laughing at the fact that ugly had actually managed to bore the guy to sleep, Ranma let out a yelp of surprise before leaping up into the air, fully awake now, and joining the other two Kamiya Kasshin users on the ground after failing to grab onto anything in the air to keep her from falling.

            "Just what the heck do you think you're doing?" Kaoru demanded.

            "Huh? Wha?" Ranma stood back up rubbing his eyes then yawned before looking over to the assistant master of the style. "Oh, Miss Kaoru, are we done yet?"

            Over in the corner Yahiko managed to tone down his amusement to a few snickers as Kaoru's face went to a deeper frown and a few stress lines appeared. "Ok," she mumbled through her teeth while reaching for her boken and then taking a combat stance with the wooden sword held out in front of her. "Like I said, we're going to try some sparring to see what you already know."

            From his position Ranma blinked then took his sword nervously. "But, I thought I was going to be practicing with Yahiko, I-I can't fight you!"

            "Oh, and why not?" Kaoru demanded.

            "You're a girl."

            Seeing the vein on Kaoru's head nearly ready to explode Yahiko slowly scooted over to the exit as quiet as he could. He didn't need to be as good as Kenshin to know where this was going. "And just what's the problem with that?" Kaoru shouted.

            Seemingly unaware of the danger he was in Ranma put his sword under his arm to free then started to count on his fingers as he listed the reasons. "Well, it's wouldn't be fair, I mean girls are a lot weaker than guys, and I don't really like to fight them, it's an unfair advantage. Besides…"

            As Ranma went on, seemingly unaware of the danger zone he was in, Yahiko thought about how they'd pay for his funeral until finally Kaoru erupted in anger.

            "JERK!"

            (POW) 

            (CRASH) 

            (SPLASH)

            "Oro?"

            Kenshin blinked a few times as he let his brain caught up with what just happened. One moment he had been washing clothes and then the sound of Miss Kaoru's voice came out from the dojo followed by Ranma flying though the wall and into Kenshin's wash bucket. Looking up he could see Kaoru with her hand still clenched in a fist standing in the dojo and giving the female redhead her almost demonic angry look.

            Ranma moaned in annoyance as the Megumi woman behind her finished wrapping the bandages and gave a slight tug to make the redhead wince at the feeling of her skull being crushed.

            When she was younger, Ranma had always had a problem of speaking out her mind too quickly without tempering her words, and most of the time that ended up with the ever-troublesome foot in mouth syndrome. As she got older during the revolution she had stopped talking back as much thanks to the circumstances, after all what kind of reply can you give when you're told to kill someone other than a yes or no? Especially when you were emotionally dead. 

            With Tomoe around she did get better at picking her words, especially around the child. However Ranma still told people what she thought of them outright without sugaring up with sweet words; being blunt did have its advantages after all.

            However now that she was supposed to be posing as a young, timid martial artist –the timid part being the excuse that she would stay out of most fights as not to reveal herself to Himura- Ranma needed to get back to the way she used to be, just without the ego.

            Actually it took a lot less work than she thought it should.

            "OW! Hey are you trying to finish me off or something?" Ranma complained while looking over to the doctor standing above her then reaching up to the bandages only to have her hand swatted away by the woman standing over the redheaded girl.

            "Quit whining," Megumi told her. "I've seen two year olds that complain less than you. Now stay still."

            Down on the floor Ranma resisted the urge to turn around and stick her tongue out at the other woman, so she just crossed her legs again and arms while mumbling incoherently.

            With nothing to really do while the woman was tending to her injuries Ranma shifted her eyes to look over at the wall of the dojo that had just been made. With the angle she had been knocked through it, head first by the way, the hole wasn't too big, but still, a hole was a hole. _Geeze, all I did was call her an ugly raccoon the way the kid does, no reason for her to get so mad about it._

            Ranma stopped talking to herself for a minute and blinked. Actually, when she really thought about it seemed like everyone she had ever known well with the exception of her daughter reacted that way to her insults, no matter what they were. For a brief second Ranma wondered if she was just some kind of short tempered girl/fiancée/rival magnet, or if there was just something about her that naturally put her on people's bad side. _With my luck it's probably both_, she thought with a little irritation.

            Hearing the door on the far side of the dojo slide open and a familiar ki step in the room Ranma looked up to see Sanosuke walk in before looking around with a confused expression as he looked over the place then back to Ranma and Megumi in the center. "Hey, either of you two seen Kenshin or the Missie around anywhere?"

            "They had to go into town to buy some materials to fix the dojo," Megumi told him.

            After looking at the clock on the other side of the wall Ranma turned her eyes back towards Sano. "Oh that's right you usually come around here to bum food off Kaoru and the others about now don't you?" Although how anyone could actually want to eat the woman's cooking was beyond him, it wasn't as bad as Akane's, THANK GOD, but it was still pretty bad. 

            "You're one to talk you know," Sano replied.

            "Hey I'm paying for my room and board unlike you freeloader," Ranma shouted before getting up on her feet and glaring at the taller fighter.

            Only to be pulled down to the floor a second later by Megumi, who then made the bandages much tighter than Ranma knew they should be with her medical knowledge. "Sit down and be still would you," she demanded. In reply the redhead groaned in annoyance, she should have gone with Kenshin and the others.

            As he walked down the street, growing ever closer to the dojo Yahiko sighed in exhaustion. Across his back he was carrying what felt like a ton of lumber to the dojo repairs. Next to him Kenshin had the nails and some other tools that would be needed to fix the wall. As usual Kaoru was carrying anything, she was just there for making sure the guys were doing all the work as usual, _training_ she called it.

            Well, maybe he was being a little too harsh on the ugly woman. While they were in town the trio had run into Dr. Gensai and his two young granddaughters on his way to meet them. There was a patient a his clinic that had come in while Megumi was at the dojo treating Ranma and  he needed to stay with the guy all night, so he didn't have anyone to watch Ayame and Suzume. Taking care of those two when they were in a hyperactive mood was a chore in itself, and sometimes just as tiring.

            With a sigh Yahiko tried not to think of how miserable the mocking hours would be with the ugly barking orders, the transsexual complaining about the orders, Kenshin trying to smooth things over and getting creamed for it, and the ensuing chaos eventually catching up to Yahiko himself doing kami only knows what to him.

            The swordsman was so busy thinking that he didn't notice they had arrived at the dojo until Kaoru spoke. "Oh Miss Megumi, is Ranma ok?" she asked.

            "Yes the girl," she snickered a little. "Seems just fine. One would almost think that head injuries happened to her often," the doctor added as an afterthought. "Oh, I also found another worker to help you out, he's waiting for you in the dojo."

            "I really hate that fox woman," Sanosuke said with a frown on his face as he held up another board to be nailed in by Ranma and Yahiko while trying to stay away from the redhead as much as possible. Even after seeing the change a few times and a day he was still a little on edge by Ranma's shape shifting. 

            It was almost nightfall as Kenshin sat outside the dojo with the others, working on patching up the hole in the wall. The wall would need something more lasting in the long run but after seeing the storm clouds overhead they had opted for a quick fix before any rain blew in.

            So, Sanosuke held up the boards while Yahiko and Ranma nailed the boards to the wall. Kenshin got off easy by just being supply manager and handing out the nails to the Kasshin students and boards to Sano. Miss Kaoru was absent at the moment, probably in the bath, since she had provided the capital for the supplies she thought that the men should provide the labor, that she did.

            However there was still one last order of business that needed attending to.

            "Uncle Kenny Uncle Kenny can't we play now," Ayame asked.

            "Yeah come on Uncle Kenny let's play," the other girl said.

            The former manslayer put on his best smile to try and apse the children standing in off to his side with their ball in hand. "Maybe in a minute when we're done here," he told him.

            "But it'll be dark soon," Ayame replied while pointing to the setting sun.

            "Yeah it'll be dark soon," Suzume agreed.

            They then attacked the swordsman with of the few techniques that was almost impossible for him to counter. It wasn't a very rare technique, known by most children under the age of ten: The 'puppy dog eyes of domination' called this because with the correct combination of sadness, pleading, cuteness, and maybe even a few teary eyes, any person with a sufficient amount of pity in their hearts would crumble and succumb to the will of the user.

            Quickly Kenshin tried to think of a counter, anything to apse the children as quickly as possible. "Say, why not go find Miss Kaoru?" he suggested. "I'm sure that she would be more than willing to play with you. I still need to help the others finish up here that I do."

            A moment later Kenshin's defense was quickly rendered useless as the owner of the dojo stepped out from around the corner. By the looks of it Kenshin was correct about her taking a bath, she still had her hair undone from the ribbon she usually wore and it was also slightly damp. "Well I'd love to help but I just got out of the bath," the girl said confirming what Kenshin already knew. That also cut the chances of her getting to help out with the repairs of course, even the menial job like Kenshin's.

            So, with that defense gone the two girls turned their attention back to the former manslayer and looked as if they were preparing to resume their attack. "Hey I know," Kaoru suddenly exclaimed cutting them off. "How about I tell you girls a story. Besides, you don't want to be caught out here when it starts raining do you? And your grandfather might be a little upset with me if you end up catching a cold."

            "But we're already heard all your stories Auntie Kaoru," Ayame said.

            "Yeah their boring," Suzume chimed in. Kaoru's eyebrow twitched at the comment while Yahiko snickered and Ranma looked at the woman out of the corner of her eye and seemed to be studying the woman's reaction while trying not to let other people see her doing it for some reason.

            "Ok well," the Kamiya Kasshin instructor said after a brief pause while visibly restraining an entirely different action.

            "At least she's got more restraint than the tomboy," the redhead girl mumbled to herself; catching Kenshin's attention. He was about to ask what that meant when Miss Kaoru spoke up again. "Hey I know, Kenshin!"

            "Oro?" the redheaded guy replied while turning his head towards the speaker. "Yes Miss Kaoru?"

            "Hey you've been around a lot of places right?" she asked.

            "Well, yes," the man replied. It was true, after the war he'd been pretty much everywhere in Japan at least twice during his travels; with the exception of Kyoto of course, he had no intention of ever wandering back there, not after what happened.

            "Great!" Kaoru exclaimed. "That means you've probably learned a few good stories from all across Japan. Why don't you keep all of use girls entertained with something you picked up…you do know of some…_right_?"

            Kenshin just blinked in response, how in the heck did he get into something like this? Well, Kenshin did suppose he knew of a few stories, but most of them revolved around Kyoto, and were the kind of stuff that the Imperialists told while half drunk and not something for little kids to hear; some of the things that his master told him weren't much better.

            "Well?" Kaoru demanded as her patience visibly started to grow thin.

            "Actually I do know one," Kenshin replied while looking up at the clouds overhead thoughtfully. It wasn't really meant to be told to kids, but Kenshin supposed he could clean it up a little and add in some things here and there to make it a little better. "I heard it during my time in Kyoto that I did."

            "Hey tell us Uncle Kenny," Ayame said.

            "Yes tell us, tell us," the younger girl chanted.

            "Well, let us finish up here," Kenshin said, "And then after we go inside I'll tell you about…" he stopped for a short dramatic pause. "The Phantom of Kyoto."

            (Crunch)

            "Ow!"

            Everyone looked away from Kenshin and over to the other resident redhead as she waved her thumb back and forth before grabbing and massaging it. It was pretty obvious that Ranma had hit her thumb with the hammer. "Hey, you ok kid?" Sanosuke asked.

            Outside the rain could be heard while the group that lived at the Kamiya dojo plus two small girls sat in a semi circle around the former manslayer while he calmly sipped some tea. Sanosuke had left shortly afterwards and Ranma was once again male thanks to some hot water.

            "Now then, where shall I begin?" Kenshin said as he started his story.

Preview of Next Chapter: For the first time in his life, Yahiko gets that weird feeling contributed to the opposite sex. To protect his new crush he has to get into a battle for her, and must fight all alone. However with the new boarder living at the Kamiya Dojo, things hardly ever go as planned.

Ending AN: Oh, if your wondering about Ranma's story itself, I plan it add it in later as another sidestory


	13. Chapter 11

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

            As was usual for his morning routine Ranma stood in a private room of the police office while his 'boss' at this current time sat on the desk in front of him. "So then," Ranma said as he tapped his foot. "I take it we have a deal?"

            "Your request is a bit odd," Saito told him after pulling out the cigarette from his mouth.

            "Well the government is paying me for this right?" Ranma asked. "Just think of this a part of that. Besides, since you worked for the Shogun's side I figure you'd be the best person to find the old intelligence reports from that time."

            Saito just shrugged. "Very well, although it may take me a little bit of time for my contacts to dig something like this up," the policeman told him. "I suppose you want an update on his current status as well?"

            "Yes," Ranma said before heading towards the door. "I'll come by tomorrow with another update, see you then."

Chapter 11. Ranma's Agreement: A Glimpse of Things to Come

            Yahiko Myojin, first apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin Style stood at his favorite spot for private practice, the river bank, next to an old dead tree while trying out various sword stances he had seen before. However, unlike in the dojo the forms he was going through were not usual to his type of style, or any style that made use of a bamboo sword. Instead, they were things he had seen Kenshin, or people who fought Kenshin, do.

            After taking one final round of warm-ups, Yahiko turned towards his opponent and readied his stance. Not bothering with a war cry he lunged at the target and swung with all this strength…missing the wooden plank hanging from the tree by a few centimeters and collapsing to the ground thanks to a loss of balance.

            Which was the main reason his was out here. If anyone, such as Ranma, Kaoru, or Sanosuke, ever saw him making such a fool of himself he'd never live it down. That, and Yahiko would never hear the end of it from his teacher for trying to learn different styles.

            No one to be deterred, Yahiko got back up on his feet and prepared to try again; trying to find just the right stance in the process. "No that wasn't right," he scolded himself. "Kenshin's stance was way different than that." After finding the right location for each one of his body parts, the boy charged his target once again…this time swinging far too close and hitting his hands on the wooden board instead of with his sword, and then getting clocked in the face by the thing when it came swinging back around, also making one of his sandals fly off in the process.

            Actually, starch all the people in the dojo, if _anyone_ saw him like this he'd just curl up and die.

            "Um, excuse me," a sweet, feminine and rather mousy voice from behind Yahiko said as he was rubbing his head in an attempt to clam the pain he was feeling. Two seconds later Yahiko was sitting up to see who was bringing on this sudden urge to find a hole to crawl off into upon him.

            It was a girl, and a rather young one at the still pre-teen age, probably close to Yahiko's own. She was dressed in a light pink kimono and had her chestnut hair cut short in a slightly wild pageboy style and eyes the color of light purple. "Um excuse me," she said again before holding out a hand with his shoe in it. "You dropped this."

            Yahiko took a moment to brush the grass out of his hair with his fingers before reaching up and taking the article of clothing the girl was offering with a quick mummer of thanks. However after putting it on he soon discovered the strap was broken.

            "Oh your strap," she said before kneeling down and taking off the slipper while Yahiko was still too dazed to do anything. A few moments later she had torn off a piece of cloth from her own clothing and made it into a makeshift middle strap for Yahiko's footwear, while he just sat there speechless.

            A few moments later the girl was done she a brief apology of interrupting Yahiko's training and then quickly took off back up the slope that led to the main rode.

            Yahiko's eyes momentarily shifted to his repaired shoe, then back to the retreating girl. "Oh geeze, I didn't even get her name!"

            "Back off it's mine," a female, but hardly feminine voice said as the sound of wood hitting wood echoed throughout the room.

            "No way you got the last big one, so that means this belongs to me," a rather crude and loud man replied in the same tone.

            "Big deal, we're treating you to this meal so that means that you can't have the best stuff," the girl argued.

            "Hey I'm just trying to give you a hand here," the man countered. "You could stand to loose a little weight."

            "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" the girl shouted while the sound of chopsticks snapping could be heard.

            Kaoru, along with everyone else at the table including Kenshin and Gensai's grandchildren, winced as she heard Ranma's response to Sanosuke's jab before taking this opportunity to grab some beef from the pot. Meanwhile the redhead in the light blue kimono frowned at her broken chopsticks for a moment, and muttered something in what must have been a foreign language as Kaoru didn't recognize the word plastic and didn't catch much else. 

            Over the past few weeks of living with Ranma, the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style had noticed a few things about her gender-bending student. Despite Ranma's claims when s/he first arrived, the (current) redhead didn't seem to be 100% male, at least when in female form. She owned a few kimonos (one of which Kaoru was quite jealous over as it had a lovely design and looked incredibly expensive) and was as quick to react as Kaoru herself when it came to jabs on her weight, looks, and any other thing a female took pride in. In fact the only thing that stayed the same in both forms was Ranma's interest in the female sex, which led to a few tiny awkward moments during a shopping trip with the shorter girl when she was getting a look at the females in Tokyo as it took awhile for Kaoru to catch on.

            Kaoru was suddenly broken out of her thoughts/food grabbing when Kenshin said something to Yahiko. "You know you haven't been eating that much today. Are you alright?" In fact upon saying those words, everyone's attention shifted to the boy.

            That's when Kaoru noticed something. Yahiko's sandal had a red toe strap instead of the normal blue colored. From the close distance she was sitting to the boy, Kaoru could easily tell it was a patchwork job, not done by a professional. "Yahiko, what happened to your shoe?"

            "Hey I know," Sanosuke said with a smirk. "He must have gotten his girlfriend to tie it together for him."

            "H-hey it's not like that!" Yahiko explained while trying to address everyone at once then quickly grabbing his bowl of rice and stuffing his face to obviously avoid further conversation. As if Kaoru would let him get away with something like this that easily.

            "Well good choice Yahiko," Ranma said. " Take it from me, women are nothing but trouble." After putting in her two cents the young woman raised her hand and called for the waiter, needing some chopstick replacements.

            Then when the waiter came with their order of tea and Ranma's replacement eating utensils, everything started to fall into place. Tsubame was a new waiter at the Akobecko, who had just started working this week. Kaoru and Ranma had met her during one of their trips to the market when her student had gotten a little hungry and couldn't wait till they got home. Apparently the girls had met her too since they were the ones to call out her name.

            Yahiko just responded to her entrance by choking on his rice and then quickly clearing his windpipe by quickly spitting it all out over to his side, and right onto Sanosuke. Of course he didn't even seem t notice what he had did, and just stared at the girl with an open mouth.

            "Oh you've never met her before," Kaoru said. "Well Yahiko, this is Tsubame."

            The whole incident didn't last long as another patron called out, asking the girl for water, which it seemed she needed to get from the well out back as she immediately took off. "Oh I forgot to say something to her before," Yahiko said before jumping up and hurrying after the girl while leaving the rest of the group speechless at what just had occurred.

            The silence seemed to hang in the air for a few moments before Ranma's voice finally broke it as she looked over to the big street fighter sitting next to her. "Oh thanks for the shield big guy." She then reached down and grabbed the piece of meat they had been fighting over previously that Sano had seemed to of forgotten about with all the commotion.

            Sanosuke just growled and clenched his fists, snapping his chopsticks in the process.

            After putting on his shoes Yahiko walked out to the back yard of the restaurant, to find the girl from before struggling with pulling the bucket's rope up. In a few seconds Yahiko was at her side and grabbed the object Tsubame was having trouble with. "Here let me do it," the boy said, his tone a mix of frustration over what he was trying to work out in his head.

            After he got the bucket up Yahiko poured it into the one meant for carrying water and then handed it to the girl. "Look uh," he said before looking up at her. She just looked down at him with those bright eyes of hers, the same way she did when he had made a fool of himself and didn't laugh or anything. Feeling a little foolish Yahiko got up and turned around. "About earlier, I just wanted to say, thanks." Although Yahiko wasn't sure whether he meant how she helped him, or didn't mock the boy after landing flat on his butt.

            "I can't believe we're doing this," Ranma mumbled as she watched the two kids from behind her hiding spot of the firewood pile while standing next to Kenshin and the others while they just giggled or chuckled at the sight of Yahiko and that Tsubame girl talking and her 'training' partner getting embarrassed. _Maybe I should give this in my next report to Saito, he wants it to be through and it should really piss him off_, she thought to herself why wondering for the hundredth time how she got railroaded into this assignment.

            "No, I should be thanking you," Tsubame said so softly that Ranma had to strain to hear it. The girl seemed to be a carbon copy of that Sailor whatsherface from that stupid television show that got its lines and dress designs from Kuno; the one with the purple skirt.

            "Oh, well I'm Yahiko Myojin," he said, introducing himself.

            "Myojin," Tsubame repeated the name, as if tasting it. "Well, thank you, Little Yahiko." She then turned and ran back into the restaurant, leaving Yahiko standing there in the open. Even from where she was Ranma could see the dissapoiment written clearly across the boy's face.

            Everything seemed to freeze for a moment and a cold wind blew in across the yard. "Little…Yahiko," he mumbled before collapsing to the ground and sitting cross-legged style. "Do I really look so childish?"

            "Ok I think I've seen enough," Ranma mumbled before getting up and heading back inside. It was bad enough that they dragged her out here away from the food, but watching the kid get embarrassed to death was even worse than watching it get all mushy. "Hey I'm gonna go get some fresh air, see you guys back at the dojo."

            Later that evening when Ranma returned from her stroll around town and a quick checkup on her daughter she found the Yahiko kid had multiple bruises all over his body. Ranma learned from Kaoru that right after she had left where was some big fight with some gang that had beaten him up over something Tsubame had. It didn't take much eaves dropping to find out that the gang also planned to rob the Akebecko family's home tomorrow night either.

            The next morning it didn't take Ranma long to find Yahiko had run off to his usual private training ground. During his time at the dojo Ranma had always gone off to see what the other residents and freeloader were up to when Kenshin was doing something that probably had other manslayers rolling over in their graves in embarrassment while they were forced to watch him doing laundry in Hell. Sure Ranma had to do those things, but he was a parent for crying out loud! Anyway, as the older fighter predicted, Yahiko was practicing with not just the usual one board, but a little under a dozen of them…and getting pummeled.

            While the boy was busy trying not to get nailed his in the back of the head Ranma made his way down behind the boy. "Hey Yahiko look out for the guy behind you, he's pretty fast," Ranma said in a light and joking tone. Which of course caused the boy to turn around and look at Ranma with a puzzled expression before the board he had just knocked with a thrust flew back and clocked him on the head and sent Yahiko to the ground. "Told you to watch out behind you."

            "What the heck are you doing here," Yahiko asked in confusion after pulling his face out of the dirt.

            "Oh nothing really," Ranma replied before lounging against the side of the hill. "Just watching the idiot make a fool of himself, it's actually pretty funny. Please, continue."

            "WHAT WAS THAT?" Yahiko yelled with his teeth gritted and a frown on his face.

            "You heard," Ranma replied before sitting up. "Let me guess, this has something to do with that encounter you had with those thugs the other day right?" Ranma smirked at the boy's dumbstruck expression. "Kaoru dragged us out yesterday so we pretty much saw everything that happened, if you're wondering. So, let me guess, now you're trying to train yourself to fight the whole group."

            "Of course, what else do you expect me to do?" Yahiko demanded. "Just stand aside and let them rob from Miss Tai's family. Wait a second, you all saw that?"

            "Well yeah, but I seriously doubt that Kenshin or the others are going to get involved unless you come running to them for help. Speaking of which, you could just run you know," Ranma said before falling back onto the grass.

            "WHAT?" Yahiko shouted. "What the heck would that solve?"

            Ranma looked up at the younger boy and blinked. "Wait a second, Yahiko, let me see your sword real quick," he said while holding out his hand. Yahiko looked at him strangely for a moment, then gave Ranma the small bamboo training sword, at which point the Jusenkyo cursed manslayer whacked Yahiko across the head.

            "OW," Yahiko yelled before jumping back. "Hey! What the heck was that for?"

            "I'm hoping that knocked some sense into you," Ranma replied. "Now sit!" he pointed the weapon towards the ground and Yahiko just grumbled before he sat down. "Look I may not be the first student, but I know a stupid idea when I see one, and if you want to go ahead and fight those guys tomorrow well, can I have your stuff after the funeral?"

            "Quit talking like that, it's bad luck," Yahiko told the other boy.

            "And fighting against a group ten to one is just plain stupid," Ranma said. "Now shut up and listen. I'm older than you Yahiko, and while I may not have the same experience with the sword as you, I do know more when it comes to things like a street fight, so shut your yap, sit down, and listen."

            To emphasize his point Ranma whacked Yahiko on the foot to cause him to jump up and onto one foot, then fall to the ground when Ranma hit his other one and pushed him back on the chest with the bamboo sword, which in turn caused him to fall on the ground. "Now are you gonna listen?" he asked.

            "Fine, what do you want to say?" Yahiko asked while nursing numerous pains.

            "Listen Yahiko, I'm not going to make your decisions for you and tell you to go running to Sanosuke or the raccoon girl and have them do your fighting for you, and I'm not going to tell you that you have to do this either, the decision is up to you. What I am going to do is tell you that unlike last time when you got your sorry ass kicked, this time those thugs are probably going to be using cane swords and instead of becoming a living bruise, you'll be a dead corpse. It's just plain stupid to get into a fight when it's ten to one odds."

            "Ok then what do I do huh?" Yahiko asked in a tone that said he really had no real intentions to listen to Ranma's advice.

            "Well if you don't happen to get a brain by tonight and do decide to go through with this, then you might as well do it smart," Ranma told him. "When the thugs show up at the house they're obviously going to have a key or a set of lock picks to get past the front gate. If you can, take them by surprise and get that away from them, then start running. They will of course chase after you, when they do most likely their minds will on catching you and they won't have the brains to stick as a group and the faster one will break out into the lead. When that happens, you turn around and fight them in one on one or two on one battle. However, if they do move as a group, position yourself somewhere that's too small for a large number of people and do it that way. Fighting ten one on one fights is a lot easier than fighting one ten to one."

            "You know….that actually makes a lot of sense," Yahiko said. His face brightened up a bit and he let out a little laugh. "You must have gotten beaten up at lot when you were a kid to figure something like that out!"

            Ranma just groaned before tossing the bamboo sword to knock him on the head and standing up, then walking away. _Dear god I hope I wasn't that easy to manipulate when I was that young_, Ranma thought with a somber expression as he walked away from the kid who started practicing once more.

            "Anyway I don't think you have to worry about the Battousai showing up," Ranma said. "He's staying out of this and letting the kid handle it."

            From his desk in the police office Hajime Saito looked at the small redhead standing across the room from him and scowled. "You want me to do what?" he asked for clarification.

            "I don't see what's so hard about it," Ranma replied as she brushed the droplets of water out of her hair. Personally Saito couldn't see how Ranma could be so blind to the world to not notice a woman with a ladle and water until it was too late. The girl had obviously lost much in skill during these times of peace. "Just act like a normal policeman and patrol the street for some thugs tonight and interrupt them if anything starts to go wrong. That's all I'm asking."

            Saito just sighed before going over the papers in front of him that reported various other little crimes in his area that had yet to be solved and had fallen to him; it was only a matter of time of course and nothing really important, but nothing escaped notice of the Wolf of Mebu.

            "Very well I supposed that I could do as you ask," he said. It would serve his greater purposes in the end anyway. The people Kenshin was living with would be easier to accept him if they saw Saito once and could remember the face.

            He was about to dismiss his partner in this job when another piece of paper caught his eye, oh yes he had almost forgot. "By the way my men might have found what you were looking for."

            "So soon?" Ranma asked. "I thought you said it might take weeks."

            "Actually it's more of just the confirmation of her death than an actual intelligence report," Saito told her. "But it would serve the same purpose in the end. The person who was actually there is still alive, actually, I think he would have been a boy at the time of her murder. All things considered I thought you might want to hear it from his own lips rather than reading it second hand."

            "Thank you," Ranma said after walking over to take the small sheet of paper. She looked at it curiously for a moment before looking back up at Saito. "That name, the informant was her brother?"

            "Apparently," Saito replied. "Now get out of here would you? I've got work to do."

            Looking up from the finished pile of folded laundry Kenshin noticed the sun was setting. If what he had overheard about Yahiko and that girl's words was correct, then the boy would be taking on those thieves tonight when they tried to rob Miss Tai's house.

            A few moments later Kenshin exited the dojo, a little surprised to find Kaoru missing, but then again she had probably had the same idea he did. Of course Kenshin had no intention of getting involved with the scuffle, unless things got out of hand that is.

            Relaxing in the bath and thankful to be male once again, Ranma brought the piece of paper Saito had given him up to his face to read it for the hundredth time today. It gave the man's birthrate, family name, and last known location; which Saito had assured him was correct. _So Tomoe had a little brother who worked as a spy for the shogun did she_ Ranma thought to himself. _Looks like you really have been keeping secrets from me, eh mother?_ Of course he couldn't just drop everything right now to go hunt for the boy, maybe in a few days. Then he would finally find out what happened to Tomoe in the time that he was away.

Preview of next chapter: On the dark streets of Tokyo, a boy fights for his life and his pride. In alleyways, a wolf watches with his teeth barred, hidden in shadow. While in the sky the scarred swordsman looks on down below. What is going on in the minds of these men, what secrets to their blood soaked hands hide? But more importantly…WILL THEY NOTICE EACHOTHER?

Next time on Ranma ½: Side story 2: Memories of Manslayers


	14. Side Story 3

See 1st chapter for disclaimer

Side Story 3: Memories of Manslayers

-The Ghost-

            It is well past sunset as I sit within this empty building known as the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo. The teacher, the student, and the manslayer have long since left me to dwell in this darkness. Although I try to sleep, I do not which to see what my unconscious mind may give me.

            Tomoe, the woman whom I consider a mother, her memory haunts my mind and I see her face when I close my eyes. Her body laying dead across the ground in a thousand different ways fills my imagination. Back during the revolution I had always assumed her killed by the Shogunate, and hoped she had just gone off somewhere to hide, that she was still alive out there somewhere. But the piece of paper inside of my pack that certifies her death tells me otherwise.

            Murdered. That was what it said under the cause of death.

            I had always thought her killed by the old government as a traitor for harboring us. But now I can only wonder what happened that day in Otsu. Was it quick? Painful? What were the reasons behind it? If I had been there, would things have been different?

            Yes, that question haunts me the most.

            If instead of chasing after my way home, could I have prevented her death all those years ago?

            As selfish as it seems to ease my guilt, I pray the answer is no.

-The Man Who Slays While Drawing His Sword-

            "So, I see you decided t come too."

            I simply nod at my friend's comment, not wanting to attract any attention. Below us there stands Yahiko, with his back to the wall and facing odds of five to one. Seeing that, a dark memory from my own past seemed to surface of when I had been much in the exact same situation.

            It was fifteen years ago, when the streets of Kyoto were overrun with the blood of men while the rivers ran red and the skyline blazed a golden red. Not a day went by in that city without the death of men on both sides.

            The particular night this even brought to mind for some reason was when I had been staying near the back of a meeting hall, waiting for the clan to conclude its business while I acted as guard. However something had gone wrong. No even before it was halfway over a Shinsen-Gumi patrol came upon me and attacked while another approached the building while I was busy.

            By the time my battle was over the Imperialists had either run away or been slaughtered, although I did manage to catch up with two; and their pursuers. The four that attacked me at first were killed easily enough, it was the other two I had my eyes on: Soshito Okita and Hajime Saito. Both of whom I had fought in the past, and all fights had never truly been concluded. Okita had been off that night, slightly ill, so Saito had been my opponent.

            The sound of bamboo meeting flesh brings me back to reality, and I sigh. As I look on the scene below I can remember the screaming faces of the men from that night when I killed them. A moment later my mask of concentration has been firmly put back in place upon my face to cover the sorrow and guilt.

            My eyes once again on the action below I see that the thugs have decided to get serious and pulled out real blades from the hilt of their wooden swords. Well, this is the reason that I came here. Seeing Sanosuke stand up next to me, I prepare of unleash my swordsman spirit, when I feel another warrior's presence suddenly unveil itself.

            The ki is dark, cold, and seems to drip with as much blood as my own, blood that can never be washed away. It is the aura of the manslayer, and a familiar one.

            Out of both shock and curiosity I lower myself back down to hide, and watch what comes.

-The Teacher-

            Standing on the corner of the alleyway as I watch my apprentice in what was about to become a life or death struggle with the Tsubame girl he met at the restaurant, my blood runs cold all of a sudden. Although I am not as skilled as some of the other fighters that I call friends, I still know when there is danger coming, especially when it lets itself known.

            Almost afraid for my life, I turn around to see what is behind me, to find a simple police swordsman coming closer. But the man is far from simple. Unlike the usual swordsmen, he wields a katana, now drawn with the sheath nowhere in sight. However it is his eyes that hold my attention, two gleaming eyes that seem to glow golden in the moonlight.

            Only once before have I seen eyes like that…

            "_You don't really get it do you?" Jinei asked as he sat beside Kaoru while smoking a cigarette. "Fifteen years ago there wasn't a man alive who did not fear the Battousai. Entire companies of soldiers would shake in fear from his gaze, and just the utterance of his name would make a man's blood run cold as if he was a small child hearing a ghost story. He slew men by the dozens without suffering a single wound, and was considered a demon given flesh. THAT is the Battousai that I wish to battle. By taking you I shall make him angry, his blood will boil with rage, and the Hitokiri Battousai will be reborn into this world."_

_            It was then that a sound from across the field made the madman and his hostage look up to see a red-haired man with a cross shaped scar on his left cheek come into view. _"_All hail the master of murder,_"_ the murderer said while getting to his feet with a sadistic smile._

            The following battle had been the first time I had seen the real Kenshin, the one he hid under that face of ever-present fake smiles. He was cold, calculating, uncaring, the perfect killing machine. There was no hesitation in his strikes, no holding back, and no regard for any other thing other than victory.

            I prayed that I would never have to see the face he showed me that night again, those same eyes of cold and endless death. Yet here and now another man walks by me, wearing the same face.

            I can only stand here, and be afraid.

-The Wolf-

            As I walk into the alleyway I remind myself why I'm here in this stupid situation once again. It is no because of a favor to Saotome, or the fact that it will help further the Secretary of the Interior's plans. I stand here the same law that I have upheld since before this government that I now serve had even taken root. That alone is why I fight against Shishio, as well as any other man I've ever crossed swords with.

            Following procedures I demand they surrender themselves to me. Surprisingly four of them actually do, the leader refuses and so I kill him.

            Then of course the usual routine follows while I am putting the cuffs on the four burglars who are still living. Although I know if the Battousai is here then he has indeed seen me by now, it matters little. Such a thing can easily be worked around, and if he puts up his guard to protect his friends prematurely it will only allow me to see just that many more holes in his defenses.

            I talk with the woman from the street for a few moments, not mentioning the tip off about the robbery and just telling her and the boy I was passing by on my way home for a late shift when I heard some noise. Obviously trying to hide something that has to be the little girl's involvement in this, they just chalk it up to a lucky break.

            Assuring them I will send someone to clean up the body after taking statements, I turn towards the station and leave the girls to their taunting of the boy; my mind intent on more important things. 


End file.
